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LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICl^S 



OF 



SALMON PORTLAND CHAb 



UNITED STATES SENATOR AND GOVERNOR OF OHIO ; SECRET^VRY OF TB 
TREASURY, AND CHIEF-JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



BY 

J. W. SCIIUCKERS 



TO WHICH IS ADDED THE EULOGY ON MR. CHASE, DELIVERED 

BY WILLIAM M. EVARTS, BEFORE THE ALUMNI OF 

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, JUNE 24, 1874. 



f^ 



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NEW YORK: ' 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

549 & 551 BROADWAY. 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the yeax 1874, 

Bt D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 

In tlie Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashiDgton. 



/ 



TO MY FRIEND 



CHARLES B. COLLIER, Esq., 



OP 



PHILADELPH lA. 



CONTEN"TS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Birth of Salmon P. Chase — Cornish — His Ancestry — His Marriages and Chil- 
dren — Some Account of the Chase Family — Childhood .... 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Removal to Keene — His Father's Death — Recollections of Keene — At School 
at Windsor — Journey to Ohio — Niagara Falls — Clevelauid — "The Ferry- 
Boy " — Arrival at Worthington 7 

CHAPTER m. 

The Bishop's School at Worthington — " Shaving a Pig " — Removal to Cincin- 
nati — Cincinnati College — An Incident — Returns to Keene . . .13 



CHAPTER IV. 

Undertakes a School at Roxbury, and fails — Royalton — Dartmouth College — 
Successful as a Teacher at Reading — Trouble with the Faculty of the Col- 
lege — Graduates — Out in the World 18 



CHAPTER V. 

Frederick City, Maryland — On to Washington — Advertises a Select Classical 
School — No Results — Tries for a Clerkship — Mr. and Mrs. Plumley — Mr. 
Plumley gives up his School — Success — " The Sisters " — Student in William^^^ 
\ Wirt's Office — John Randolph — William Wirt — Admission to the Bar — 
Goes West 22 



CHAPTER VI. 

Begins Life as a Lawyer at Cincinnati — Speculation in 1836 — The Lyceum and 
some Literary Work — Eulogy upon Brougham — Chase's Statutes — Com- 
mendations of Chancellor Kent and Justice Story 32 



viii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

The Presidential Canvass of 1832— Anti-Masons— Mr. "Wirt their Candidate— 
" The Birney Mob "— " The Philanthropist "—Mr. Chase on the Liberty of 
the Press— The Matilda Case— Norton S. Townshend— Trial of Mr. Birney 38 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Votes for Harrison in 1840 — Views of Political Probabilities — Accession of 
John Tyler — Mr. Chase's Ideas respecting Antislavery Action — Antislavery 
Convention of 1840 — Organization of the Liberty Party in Ohio in 1841 — 
Its Address — Mr. Chase's Hopes .45 

CHAPTER IX. 

Mr. Chase " Attorney-General for Runaway Negroes " — The Case of John Van 
Zandt — Mr. Chase's Argument before the Supreme Court of the United 
States — Its Conclusion 52 

CHAPTER X. 

State Election, 1842 — DifiBculties of the Liberty Party Movement — National 
Convention of the Liberty Party at Buffalo in 1843 — Southern and West- 
ern Liberty Convention at Cincinnati in 1845 — A Great and Important 
Gathering — The Case of Samuel Watson 67 

CHAPTER XI. 

Annexation of Texas — Buffalo National Liberty Convention of 1847 — State 
Convention at Columbus, 1848 — Democratic and Whig National Conven- 
tions of that Year — Convention of Barnburner Democrats of New York — 
Free-Soil National Convention at Buffalo in August — Nomination of Martin 
Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams — Platform — General Results . 81 

CHAPTER XIL 

Democratic Antislavery in Ohio in 1848, 1849, and 1850 — Composition of the 
Ohio Legislature in 1848-'49 — Whig Apportionment of 1847-48 in Ham- 
ilton County — Free-Soil Caucus — Townshend and Morse — Action of the 
Caucus — The Morse and Townshend Coalition with the Old-line Democrats 
— Election of Mr. Chase to the United States Senate — Whig Charges • 
of its Immorality — What happened to the Principal Actors in the Coalition 
— Extracts from Letters of Mr. Chase — Verdict of the People of Ohio — 
History of the Repeal of the " Black Laws " — Notes to Chapter XII. 89 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Mr. Chase takes his Seat in the Senate — Thirty-first Congress — Slavery Agita- 
tion — Takes no Part in Democratic Caucus — Question of Slavery in the 
Domain acquired from Mexico — Application of California for Admission 



CONTENTS. ix 

PAGE 

into the Union — Proposal of Compromise — Senate Committee of Tliirteen 
— Report ot the Committee — Extracts from Mr. Chase's Speech on the Mat- 
ters involved La that Report . 105 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Bills submitted by the Senate Committee of Thirteen — Non-intervention with 
Slavery in the Territories — Jefferson Davis's Proposition — Counter-propo- 
sition by Mr. Chase — Speech of Mr. Chase on the Subject — The Texas 
Boundary — ^Fugitive Slave Act of 1850-*-Mr. Chase's Opposition to it — 
Adoption of the Compromise of 1850 — "A Complete and Final Adjust- 
ment " — Mr. Sumner's Advent into the Senate — Introduction by Mr. Doug- 
las of the Bill organizing a Territorial Government in Nebraska . .118 

CHAPTER XV. 

" The Era of Slave-hunting " — Second Session of the Thirty-second Congress — 
Meeting of the National Conventions of the Whig and Democratic Parties 
in 1852 — Their Declarations and Nominations — Mr. Chase's Letter to B. F. 
Butler, of New York — Action of the New York Democracy — The Views of 
Mr. Chase touching that Action — National Free-Soil Convention at Pitts- 
burg — Its Platform — The Election of General Pierce — Forecast of the 
Future 128 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Meeting of the Thirty-third Congress in December, 1853 — Extract from the 
Message of President Pierce — Pledges himself in behalf of the Quiet and 
Harmony of the Country — Nebraska Bill introduced into the Senate by 
Mr. Douglas — Extracts from the Report which accompanied the Bill — Re- 
peal of the Missouri Restriction proposed by Mr. Dixon, of Kentucky — 
Mr. Sumner's Counter-proposition — Denunciations by the WasMngton 
Union of the Amendments of Senators Dixon and Sumner — " The South 
Wind thick with Storm " — Mr. Douglas proposes the Repeal of the Mis- 
souri Restriction — Modification of the Alleged Ground of Repeal — The Ad- 
ministration pledges itself to the Principle of "Non-intervention" em- 
bodied in the Nebraska Bill 134 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Appeal of the Independent Democrats— Effect of the Appeal upon the 

Public Sentiment of the North 140 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Mr. Douglas denounces the Appeal of the Independent Democrats — Defends 
the " Principle " of his Nebraska Bill— And alleges that the Legislation of 
1850 superseded the Missouri Restriction — Mr. Chase denies the Doctrine 
of Supersedure — His Speech — Action of the Senate on the Question of Su- 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

persedure — Mr. Chase seeks to discover, by Important Amendments, the 
Real Principle of the Bill — Its Real Principle developed — The Agitation 
in the North — Passage of the Bill — Anecdote of Mr. Chase . . . 149 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Party Action in relation to the Nebraska Bill — Difficulty of obtaining Signatures 
to the Appeal of the Independent Democrats — Attempt to change the Cur- 
rent of Public Sentiment through Know-Nothingism — Failure of that At- 
tempt — Mr. Chase retires from the Senate — The Struggle in Kansas — Brief 
Account of the Earlier Events in that Struggle — State of Parties in Ohio — 
Organization of the RepubHcan Party — Nomination of Mr. Chase for Gov- 
ernor — His Speech of Acceptance — Canvass of the State, and his Election 160 

CHAPTER XX. 

Mr. Chase as Governor — Education — The Margaret Garner Tragedy — Letter of 
Mr. Chase to Mr. Trowbridge, giving a History of that Case . , . 1*70 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Conservatism of Mr. Chase — " The Greene County Slave-hunt " — Action of 
the U. S. District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio — Action of the State 
Courts — Slave-shooting on Kane's Creek — Public Meetings in Ohio — Con- 
flict of Federal and State Process — The Great Railway Celebration of ISSY 
— Remarks of Governor Chase at Baltimore — Colonel Carrington's Mission 
and Interview with Secretary of State Cass — Interview of Governor Chase 
with Mr, Buchanan and General Cass 177 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Reorganization of the Military System of Ohio — Convention of Military Officers 
— Extract from Colonel Parsous's Report on the Military System — Growing 
Importance of the New Organization — Its Efficacy and Usefulness in a Per- 
ilous Conjuncture — " The Breslin Defalcation " — Gibson's Concealment of 
it — Prompt Action of Governor Chase — Nominated for Reelection — Diffi- 
culties of the Canvass — His Great Labors in conducting it — Second Inau- 
gural Address — ^A Model Paper — John Brown's Raid into Virginia — Gov- 
ernor Wise fears an Invasion from Ohio — His Letter to Governor Chase — 
Governor Chase's Characteristic Reply — E'ctract from his Last Annual Mes- 
sage — Reelected to United States Senaie 183 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

Presidential Canvass of 1856, and in 1860 — Want of Influence of Ohio Delega- 
tion in Chicago Convention — Election of Mr. Lincoln — Withdrawal of South 
Carolina from the Union — Letter of Mr. Chase to Randall Hunt — Goes to 
Springfield by Invitation of Mr. Lincoln — Interviews with Mr. Lincoln — 
Conditional Ofler of Treasury Department — Letter to Governor Seward — 



CONTENTS. xi 



PAQE 



Peace Conference called by Legislature of Virginia— Mr. Chase attends as a 
Delegate from Ohio— Speech in the Conference— The Conference a Failure 
—Appointment as Secretary of the Treasury— Resigns his Senatorship . 195 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Enters upon his Duties as Secretary of the Treasury— Depressed State of the 
Finances at that Time — His Early Financial Measures— Beginning of the 
Rebellion — Extra Session of Congress, July, 1861 . . . • . ,209 

CHAPTER XXV. . 

Estimates for Fiscal Year 1862— Proposed Increase of Duties on Teas, Coffees, 
and Sugars, a Direct Tax of Twenty MiUions of Dollars, and a National 
Loan of One Hundred Millions— The Basis of his Estimates— Action of 
Congress upon his Recommendations— Issue of the " Demand Notes "— 
Conferences with the Committee of the Associated Banks of New York, 
Philadelphia, and Boston— Borrows One Hundred and Fifty Millions of 
Dollars 216 

CHAPTER XXVL 

First "Seven-thirty" National Loan — What the Banks wanted, and Mr. Chase 
would not do — A Paper-money War inevitable — Suspension of Cash Pay- 
ments by Banks and Government, December 30, 1861— Extracts from Mr. 
Chase's Report to Congress — Measures proposed by him — Proposes a Na- 
tional Currency — The Public Debt — Strength of the Army and Navy . 229 

CHAPTER XXVIL 

* 
Military and Financial Situation in January, 1862 — A Hard-money War Imprac- 
ticable — Proposal of Mr. Thaddeus Stevens to issue Legal-tender Paper 
Money— Mr. Chase's Opposition to this Proposal— Extracts from his Let- 
ters and Reports on the Subject — His Efforts to avoid the Legal Tender — 
Failure of these Efforts, and submits to an Unavoidable Necessity — Opinions 
of Republican Representatives and Senators on the Legal Tender — Passage 
of the Legal-tender Act — One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars author- 
ized — A Second Emission of One Hundred and Fifty Million Dollars sanc- 
tioned by Congress — Summary of the Whole Issues authorized — Effects of 
the Legal Tender 236 

CHAPTER XXVIIL 

Action of the Supreme Court of the -United States on the Legal Tender — The 
Case of Hepburn against Griswold— What the Court affirmed m that Case 
— Resignation of Justice Grier — Reconstruction of the Court — Appointment 
of Justices Strong and Bradley — Prompt Attempt to reverse Hepburn 
against Griswold — Circumstances attending that Attempt — The Reversal 
itself unprecedented and revolutionary— History of the Reconstruction of 
the Court — Mr. Chase on his own Action in Hepburn against Griswold . 258 



xii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

PAQB 

The Temporary-loan System — Its Usefulness — Certificates of Indebtedness — 
The Five-twenties — Condition of the National Finances June 30, 1862 — 
The Public Debt — Consequences of the Suspension of Cash Payments . 269 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Letters and Extracts from Letters written in 1861 — Of Appointments in the 
Treasury Department — Emancipation a Probable Result of the War — Na- 
tional Loan — Emancipation Proclamations by Commanding Generals — 
Duty of Government to provide a National Currency — War Department 
Expenditures, 1861 — What Mr. Chase thought of Mr. Cameron . . 274 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Condition of the State Banks in 1861 — Character of the State-Bank Circulation 
at the Date — Brief Account of the State Banks (Note) — Mr. Chase recom- 
mends the National Banking System — Extracts from his Report, December, 
liiS61 — National Banking Bill introduced in House of Representatives, by 
Mr. Hooper, of Massachusetts 282 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Mr. Chase renews his Recommendation of a National Banking System, Decem- 
ber, 1862 — Debate upon the Bill in House and Senate — Final Passage of 
the Bill, February 25, 1863 — Principal Features of that Bill — Organization 
of National Currency Bureau — Amendatory Act of 1864 — Discussion in 
Congress — Bank of Commerce — Abstract of the Amendatory Act — Oper- 
ation of the Act — Taxation of State Banks — Present Condition of the Na- 
tional Banks .293 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The Morrill Tariff— Tariff Amendments— General Revision of the Tariff of 1861 
— Tariff Receipts — Internal Revenue Bureau created — The Direct Tax — In- 
come from Internal Revenue — Commerce between Loyal and Insurgent 
States — Embarrassment of the Subject — Mr. Chase's Views — Proclamation 
of Blockade, and Suspension of Internal Commerce by the President — 
Acts of Congress on the Subject — Policy of Mr. Chase — " Trade shall fol- 
low the Flag " — Advance in the Price of Cotton, and Abuses occasioned 
by Eager Desire for Traffic — Necessity of the Internal Commerce — Regu- 
lations for its Government — Origin of Freedmen's Bureau — Magnitude of. 
the Internal Commerce System — Corrupticfti among the Officers — A Painful 
Instance of this 312 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Recommendations of Mr. Chase in Respect of Economy and Taxation — Income 
from Taxes during Mr. Buchanan's Administration — Internal Revenue and 



CONTENTS. xiii 

PAGE 

Tariff Acts — Income from those Sources — ^Extracts from Letters of Mr. 
Chase to Mr. Fessenden o30 



CHAPTER XXXy. 

Loan Acts of Congress — Fractional Currency — The "Seven-thirty National 
Loan" of 1861 — The "Five-twenties" — Probable Results of offering them 
to Capitalists — Ninety-seven to Ninety-eight Cents for the Dollar — Declines 
to submit to such a Loss — Appoints a General Subscription Agent — Brill- 
iant Success of the Agency — The "Ten-forties" fail — Some Facts about 
■ the War — Summary 338 

CHAPTER XXXVL 

Advance in the Premium on Gold during 1862 — Extraordinary Fluctuations in 
1863 and 1864 — Efforts to control the Premiums by Treasury Sales — Their 
Failure— The " Gold Bill " of June IV, 1864— Its Disastrous EflPects— Fever 
in the Gold Market — Mr, Chase's Resignation — The Highest Figure of the 
War, 185 per cent., July 11th — Repeal of the Gold Bill — Government Sales 
of Foreign Exchange and Gold Certificates — Failure of all these Measures 
— Table showmg Average Premium on Gold for Five Years . . .356 



CHAPTER XXXYIL 
Letters and Extracts from Letters of Mr. Chase written during the Year 1862 . 363 

CHAPTER XXXVIIL 
Letters and Extracts from Letters written in 1863 384 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Letters and Extracts of Letters written between January 1, 1864, and June 30, 

1864 898 

CHAPTER XL. 

Summary — Mr. Chase's Fmancial Objects — To obtain Supplies — To provide a 
Permanent Currency — To provide a Funding System and secure Controlla- 
bility of the Pubhc Debt — Objections to Long Bonds — To secure Early Re- 
sumption — General Effects of his Measures — Letters to Colonel Van Buren ' 
and Secretary Fessenden 406 

CHAPTER XLI. 

1861, 
Mr. Chase and the War — Extracts from his Letters and Diaries . . .418 



xiv CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XLII. 

1862. 

PAGE 

Mr, Chase and the War 434 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

18G2. 

Mr. Chase and the War 443 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

1863. 

Mr. Chase and the War . . . • . 465 

CHAPTER XLV. 
1862-1864. 

The Assault upon Mr. Seward in 1862 — Resignation of Mr. Chase — Withdraws 
it and resumes Office— Is a Candidate for Presidential Nomination in 1864 
— Hiram Barney — Republican Party in New York — Quarrel over the Cus- 
toms in New York — Congressional Investigation — Arrest of A. M. Palmer 
— Frank Blair's Speech in the House of Representatives — Official Patron- 
age — How it is dispensed — Assistant Treasurer's Office in New York — Res- 
ignation of Mr. Cisco — Difficulty in finding a Successor — Resignation of 
Mr. Chase — ^Death of Chief-Justice Taney — Mr. Lincoln nominates Mr. 

Chase to be Chief-Justice 473 

/ 

CHAPTER XL VI. 

Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Chase — The Presidency and Mr. Chase's resignation . . 489 

CHAPTER XLVIL 
Mr. Chase and the War — Reconstruction and Restoration . . . .614 

CHAPTER XLVm. 

Capture of Jefferson Davis — Its Embarrassment — Of what he was charged, and 
the Punishment that might be inflicted — Why Mr. Chase refused to hold a 
Court in Virginia — Relation between Civil and Military Power — The Inde- 
pendence of the Judicial Department — The Question of admitting Mr. 
Davis to Bail — A Letter of Mr. Chase on the Subject of the Davis Trial — 
Holds Court in Raleigh, June, 186Y — Sickles's Order No. 10 — Proceedings 
in Davis's Case at Richmond — Is pardoned 533 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

Universal Suffrage a Necessity of the Republican Party — The Excommunication 
of the President — General Grant for President — Object of the Impeach- 



CONTEXTS. 



XV 

PAGE 



ment — ^Ashley's Effort to bring it about — Tlie Stanton Matter — Removal of 
Mr. Stanton, February 21, 1868 — Consequences of — Prompt Impeachment 
of the President — Questions touching the Powers of the Chief-Justice in 
the Trial — Their Settlement — Excitement — Torrents of Lies and Abuse — 
Henderson, of Missouri — The President's Acquittal 546 

CHAPTER L. 

The "Chase Movement" among the Democrats in 1868 — The Fitness of that 
Movement — Its Spontaneousness — Letter to Mr. Belmont — Advocacy by the 
Herald of Mr. Chase — Friends of Mr. Chase in the New York Convention 
— The Platform — A Half- vote for Mr. Chase — Excitement — Nomination of 
Governor Seymour — How Mr. Chase received the News — Partisan Misrep- 
resentation — Mr. Chase's Views — A Letter of Governor Seymour . . 560 

CHAPTER LL 
Letters of Mr. Chase upon Impeachment and the New York Convention . . 574 

CHAPTER LII. 

Mr. Chase's Religion — His Simple Habits — Hospitality — His Modesty — Love of 
Truth and of Justice — His Vast Labor — Description of the Treasury De- 
partment — Organization of New Bureaus — Rule about Women — Personal 
Characteristics — His Interest in Military Matters— Financial Beliefs and 
Accomplishment — Political Action — As a Member of the Cabinet — ^As a 
Lawyer — Personal — ^His Property 594 

The Last Scene of All 619 

Appendix 631 

Eulogy of Mr. Chase 635 

Index • 663 




LIFE OF SALMON POETLAND CHASE. 



CHAPTER I. 

BIKTH OF SALMON P. CHASE COROTSH — HIS AjSTCESTEY HIS 

"MARRIAGES AND CHILDREN SOME ACCOUNT OF THE CHASE 

FAMILY CHILDHOOD. 



SALMOK POETLAND CHASE was bom in Cornisli, 
ISTew Hampsliire, January 13, 1808. For more than three- 
score years before his birth, his grandfather and his father, with 
their families, had dwelt in Cornish ; and their homestead, a 
substantial country-house of the eighteenth century, still stands, 
as fii'm and sound as when — now more than a hundred years 
ago — ^his ancestors built and lived in it. Fertile meadows sur- 
round it ; a half-mile in its rear rise up the stately hills of Cor- 
nish ; at its front rolls the beautiful Connecticut ; in the west, 
on the Yermont side of the river, towering grandly among the 
neighboring summits, the kingly Ascutney lifts his head more 
than three thousand feet above the sea, and at sunset covers 
1 



2 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

with his shadow the old homestead of Dudley and Ithamar 
Chase. 

Family names and family history are of no political, and 
perhaps even of small social importance, in a republic, where, it 
is said, " worth makes the man." But it is nevertheless a fine 
impulse of our nature that prompts us to pride in an honorable 
ancestry. That of Mr. Chase was neither royal nor noble, but 
through many generations it has been marked for the highest 
qualities that can distinguish men — temperance, probity, reli- 
gious life and intellectual strength. 

He was ninth in descent from Thomas Chase of Chesham, 
England, and sixth from Aquila Chase, born in England, ship- 
master, who settled in the town of I^ewbury, Massachusetts, 
about 1640. The fiftli son of this Aquila — who was second of 
his name,* and in the fourth generation from Thomas Chase of 
Chesham — was Moses, born 1663. Moses Chase married Anne 
Follansbee, and became the father of ten children, the two elder 
of whom were Moses and Daniel, twins, born September, 1685. 
Daniel married Sarah March, in 1T06, and became the father 
of ten children also, Samuel being the first. Samuel married 
Mary Dudley of Sutton, and removed to Cornish. He had 
nine children, the third of whom, Dudley, was born in 1Y30, 
and in 1753 was married to Alice Corbett of Mendon. Dudley 
and Alice Chase had fourteen children, and eight of them were 
sons who attained to the years of manhood : Simeon, Salmon, 
Ithamar, Baruch, Corbett, Heber, Dudley, and Philander, and 
all of these arrived at more or less distinction in their several 
walks of life. 

^ Shortly after Mr. Chase was elected Governor of Ohio, a gentleman claiming to 
be his relative wrote him, touching the supposed great " Chase estate " in England, 
awaiting heirs, and solicited assistance in order to establish the claims of the Amer- 
ican branch of the family. The Governor replied that he had no objection to admit 
the relationship asserted by his correspondent, though their common ancestor was 
no nearer than Adam, provided his correspondent was an honest man, and voted the 
Free-soil ticket ! He added that the best way to make a Uving is by labor, and that 
he had no faith in the supposed English estate, and no wish to participate in the 
effort to get it, even if it existed, since great injury must result to innocent persons 
if the effort were successful. 

It may be worth while saying here, for the benefit of the curious, that there seen 
to be no basis to the stories current, of a great estate in England awaiting the heir 
Aquila Chase. They are probably fictitious ; at any rate rest upon flimsy foundatit 



\ 



FAMILY HISTORY. 3 

Itliamar Chase was born in 1763, and in 1789 married Jan- 
nette Ralston of Keene, daughter of Alexander Ralston and 
Janette his wife, both natives of Falkirk, Scotland. Ithamar 
and Jannette Chase were the parents of eleven children, and 
of these Salmon Portland Chase was the eighth. 

Salmon Portland Chase * was thrice married : First, March 
4, 1834, to Katharine Jane Garniss, who was born in New 
York City, August 21, 1811 ; died December 1, 1835. They 
had one child, Katharine, born November 16, 1835 ; died Feb- 
ruary 6, 1840. Second, September 26, 1839, to Eliza Ann 
Smith, born at Cincinnati, November 12, 1821 ; died Septem- 
ber 29, 1845. They had issue three children — Katharine, born 
August 13, 1840 ; Lizzie, born May 30, 1842 ; died August 30, 
1842 ; Lizzie, born June 1, 1843 ; died July 24, 1844. Third, 
November 6, 1846, to Sarah Bella Dunlop Ludlow, born near 
Cincinnati, April 20, 1820. They had issue two children : Janet 
Ralston, born September 19, 1847 ; Josephine Ludlow, born 
July 3, 1849 ; died July 28, 1850. Sarah Bella D. L. Chase 
died at Clifton near Cincinnati, January 13, 1852. 

Two only of the six children born to Mr. Chase lived to 
mature years : Katharine, daughter of his second wife, married 
November 12, 1863, to "William Sprague of Rhode Island, now 
a Senator in Congress from that State ; and Janet Ralston, 
married March 23, 1871, to William Sprague Hoyt, of New 
York "City. 

Although Mr. Chase was the husband of three wives, his 
married life was somewhat less than thirteen years. He out- 
lived all his brothers and sisters, and of the former none left 
male issue. 

His uncles, Salmon, Baruch, and Dudley Chase, were gradu- 
ates of Dartmouth College, and all became lawyers. Dudley 
was five times elected Speaker of the Yermont House of Repre- 
sentatives ; was United States Senator from 1813 to 1817, 
resigning in the latter year. He was then elected Chief -Justice 
of the State, and reelected three successive years ; and was again 
United States Senator from 1825 to 1831. He died at Ran- 

' - ' The middle name of the Chief-Justice was given him by his parents, to com- 
■norate the death of his uncle Salmon at Portland. Mr. Chase was wont to say 
. H he was his uncle's monument. 



\. 



4 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

dolpli, full of years and honors. Ileber and Corbett Chase be- 
came physicians ; Simeon and Ithamar were farmers, although 
the latter for many years represented his district in the Council 
of Kew Hampshire, and was also a justice of the peace, and a 
good deal talked of for Governor of the State, though he never 
became a candidate. Philander Chase, the youngest of this 
family, was graduated at Dartmouth, and was subsequently 
Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, and afterward of Illinois. " While 
a student at Dartmouth," says Mr. Chase, in " The Trowbridge 
Letters," " poring over some books which were in the college 
library. Philander Chase became convinced (he had been reared 
a Congregationalist) that the Episcopal Church was that which 
the apostles had founded, and, prompt to act upon his convic- 
tions, had joined its communion. His zeal or his logic, or both, 
so wrought upon my grandfather's family that, so far as I know 
without exception, they all became Episcopalians. This must 
have happened about the beginning of the century ; for an Epis- 
copal Church was built and consecrated, and the family were 
devout worshipers there, when I was born. The bishop was 
an earnest, able, faithful, valiant man ; imperious it may be ; 
confident in himself, but more confident in God — always saying, 
' Jehovah Jireh, God will help,' and always finding himself 
helped. My father never went to college, but had the common- 
school education of other farmer-boys. As he grew in years, he 
married my mother, then a handsome young woman, the daugh- 
ter of Scottish parents — Ralston ph^e, Balloch mere — and her- 
self just escaped from birth in Scotland, for her parents came 
over the very year she saw the light." 

Mr. Chase has written that his earliest recollections of him- 
self were of a dangerous attack of a malignant fever ; and next, 
of the school and school-house, and his teacher, Daniel Breck 
of Yermont,. afterward a distinguished citizen of Kentucky, and 
a member of the highest judicial tribunal of that State. Mr. 
Chase when a mere child, not always able to make his way 
through the heavy New-England snows to the Httle school- 
house, not more than a hundred rods distant from his father's 
gate, and often borne thither upon the shoulders of older boys, 
and sometimes by the teacher himself, was remarkable for his ap- 
plication to his childish studies, and for his success and accuracy 



RECOLLECTIONS OF CHILDHOOD. 5 

in mastering tliem. It was not a very serious task, of coiu'se, to 
get to the head of the spelling-classes, having but one competi- 
tor at all formidable ; a little girl Bessy Marble by name, the 
pretty daughter of a near neighbor and intimate friend of his 
father's. Bessy was his rival in the school, and his companion 
out of it ; she grew up an accomphshed and superior woman, 
whose after-history was not without some coloring of romance. 
The boy was a resolute, hard-headed, ambitious little fellow, 
said Mr. Breck, with whom so soon as he could read, reading 
became a passion. To get away into some unnoticed corner of the 
house, or under a clump of trees, with a book, and Bessy at his 
side, reading aloud to her, was his chief happiness and occupa- 
tion. " KoUin's Ancient History " — dear, delightful book — was 
his earliest treasure. 

" I was religiously educated," writes Mr. Chase, " but not 
under any very severe restraint. I was baptized into the Epis- 
copal Church, and among my earliest recollections are those of 
a square pew in the south side of the little church, near the east 
wall, where, however, I think I did more sleeping than any 
thing else." 

Five generations of his ancestors, and more than fifty mem- 
bers of the Chase family, sleep in the little Cornish church- 
yard. 

The inscriptions upon the tombstones of some of them are 
in the quaint but simple and beautiful language of IS^ew-Eng- 
land people threescore years ago; while the sculptured angel- 
forms which almost invariably appear at the tops of the stones, 
as introductory somewhat to the inscriptions which follow, 
though highly regarded then, rather startle the finer artistic 
tastes of the present generation. 

" I was a rustic boy," writes Mr. Chase, " very rustic ; full of 
faith ; not much given to ask for the causes of things ; ready to 
accept what was told me, but equally ready to correct errors of 
information by better information or experience ; ambitious to 
be at the head of my class and without much other ambition, 
and not grudging that place even to any one who fairly earned 
it, and least of all, to pretty Bessy Marble. 

" And so, with a kind father and mother watching over me ; 
with old Ascutney looking down upon me every morning from 



Q LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

liis mists, and every evening from his royal panoply of gilded 
clouds, the old Connecticut Kiver rolling by, and the Connecti- 
cut Yalley meadows and ITew Hampshire hills over which to 
roam, and gather strawberries and wild-flowers," passed the hap- 
py childhood of Salmon Portland Chase. 



CHAPTER II. 

EEMOVAL TO KEENE — HIS FATHEk's DEATH ^RECOLLECTIONS OF 

KEENE — AT SCHOOL AT WESTDSOK — ^JOUKNEY TO OHIO ^NIAG- 
ARA FALLS CLEVELAND " THE FERRY-BOY " ^ARRFV^AL AT 

WORTHINGTON. 

"TTTHEN Mr. Chase was about eight years old his father re- 
V V moved from Cornish to Keene in Cheshire, and dwelt 
there in a house belonging to his father-in-law, Alexander Ral- 
ston. " I remember one spring and one summer in that house," 
writes Mr. Chase ; " the spring by the melting of the snow and 
the rush of the surface-waters into the Ashuelot, and the sum- 
mer by a ridiculous attempt I made to dry up a smaU pool by 
building a fire upon an extemporized raft and setting it afloat 
upon the water. I had somehow lost my shoe in the pool, and 
knowing that water could be dried up by heat, undertook to re- ' 
cover my shoe in that way. But I soon abandoned the attempt. 
" I have a dim recollection of the district school — there were 
several in the town — as a dark room with a great many boys in 
it, on our side of the street between my father's and the meet- 
ing-house. One day I got into a fight with a neighbor boy, the 
only personal fight I ever was in. He threw a brick or stone at 
me ; I closed upon him, but, as we were soon parted, there were 
no serious consequences. I remember I did not want to fight, 
but thought a crisis had come (though I did not know the word 
then), and that I must hit him — which I did." 

ITot long after going to Keene, in August, 1817, Ithamar 
Chase was attacked by paralysis, and after lingering some days 
in unconsciousness, died smTOunded by his family. He was a 



8 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

noted man in the little community, and honorably known in the 
State ; a leading member of the Masonic fraternity ; the friend 
of Jeremiah Mason of Boston, and of Daniel Webster, then a 
rising young lawyer and member of Congress ; and, in the elab- 
orate style of the times, was addressed as the " Honorable Itha- 
mar Chase, Esq. ; " titles in which, remarks Mr. Chase, " my 
mother took an innocent pleasure, mixed perhaps with a httle 
pride." Through the inheritance of his wife, Jannette Ralston, 
he had come into the possession of considerable property — for 
those days — in Keene, and had invested a portion of it in the es- 
tabhshment of a glass factory ; but with the close of the war 
came a revision of the tariff ; customs duties were lowered ; 
there was a restoration of foreign trade and importation of for- 
eign glass ; prices f eU upon home production, so that the factory 
proved a serious loss, and the business affairs of Ithamar Chase 
had fallen into some disorder even before his death. "When the 
estate was finally settled, Mrs. Chase retained but a remnant of 
her property. As soon as she could arrange to do so, she re- 
moved with her family to a yellow " story-and-a-half " house, at 
the corner of Main Street and the Swanzey road to Boston. 
" A guide-post, which stood opposite," says Mr. Chase, " read : 
' 1^^ To Swanzey 7 miles,' and ' |^^ To Boston YT miles,' 
and often sent my young imagination to the neighboring town 
and the great city. It seemed very far off and very huge. My 
eldest sister was married in that house in 1818, and from that 
house my brother Dudley, a youth of perhaps sixteen years, 
went away to sea. He shipped at Boston, and how anxiously 
we all followed the course of the vessel ! We heard of her in 
the Mediterranean, at Barcelona ; then in other seas and in other 
ports. Finally, two or three years after, we learned that he had 
left the ship and died at Demeraraj South America. His was 
the first death among my brothers and sisters, and there were 
eleven of us. 

" There was a small farm connected with my mother's house, 
along one side of which ran a lane back to the hiUs, bordering 
the little farm for near a half-mile. As I was going along it one 
cold morning in the late fall or early winter I received a lesson 
I have never forgotten. By the roadside was a man lying stark 
dead. His face lay downward in the shallow water of the road- 



AT SCHOOL AT WINDSOR. 9 

side ditcLi. He had been in to\vn the night before ; had got 
drunk, and in seeking his way to his house on the hill-side, had 
probably fallen forward into the water, not deep enough to 
reach to his ears, and unable to move had perished. Some 
neighbors came and removed the body, and the Rev. Mr. Bar- 
stow, before temperance societies were established, preached a 
sermon on the evils of intemperance ; but what sermon could 
rival in eloquence the awful spectacle of a dead di-unkard, mis- 
erably perishing where the slightest remnant of sense or strength 
would have sufficed to save ! 

" "We lived at Keene nearly three years after my father's 
death before I went "West, and during that time I passed several 
months, inclij^ling a part if not the whole of one winter at 
"Windsor, at school under charge of Colonel Dunham. Here I 
began Latin in good earnest, and was a diligent scholar. It was 
here, too, that I got my first notions of political parties. Colo- 
nel Dunham had been an editor, and in the attic of his house 
were still kept files of his newspaper, the Washingtoiiian, I be- 
lieve, or the Columhian — fiercely Federal in sentiment. I had 
learned from my mother that the newspapers were not to be im- 
plicitly relied upon, and did not receive the statements of the 
Washingtonian with absolute belief ; but certainly after read- 
ing it my impressions of James Madison and his supporters were 
not of a flattering kind. 

" I went through the Latin grammar at Colonel Dunham's ; 
through " Historia Sacra," through a great part of " Yiri Romge," 
and began to read the " Bucolics " of Yirgil. I was counted 
quite a prodigy, but I am now sure that thorough instruction in 
one-quarter as much would have been better than superficial 
corn-sing through the whole. 

" There was a boy among us who stood at the head of us all 
for talent and general capacity. After a various experience — 
preacher, author, lawyer perhaps — he yielded to the seductions 
of intemperance, and he grew to be an old man, but older in 
wear and unpairment than in years. One day he came into my 
hbrary at "Washmgton, feeble, ill-clad, and almost hopeless, and 
asked for help. I gave hun some money and employment in 
the Treasury Department, and thought he was saved. But the 
liquor-devil was too sti-ong : after some months he gave way ; 



10 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

was excused — ^gave way again, and was again excused ; and again 
gave way, and was dismissed. There was no help for it. 

" I think it was in 1818-'19 that I was at Mr. Dunham's. 
After my return to Keene I recited to Kev. Mr. Barstow, and 
with hun I began Greek, going through the grammar and mak- 
ing some progress in the Greek Testament. I also took up 
Euclid. I am not likely to forget the first proposition. No- 
body explained any thing to me, and I had not the least idea of 
what was to be done. I knew I had a lesson to get, and I got it. 
I did not know that any thing was to be reasoned and proved, 
and I neither reasoned nor proved — but simply committed the 
proposition to memory. I was not long in finding out, how- 
ever, what problems and theorems meant, and^went to work 
then in the right way, and not unsuccessfully." 

And now happened an important event in the student's life. 
His uncle. Philander Chase, the Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, made 
a visit at his mother's, and discerning in his nephew those 
qualities of strictness and application which are after all the 
surest foundations of eminence, soon after his return to Ohio 
wrote Mrs. Chase, proposing to receive her son into his own 
household at Worthington. After some natural hesitation she 
consented, and in April, 1820, the lad began his journey to the 
West. " I tried to find out where I was going," he writes, " and 
got some queer information. ' The Ohio,' as the country was 
then called, was a great way off ; it was very fertile ; cucum- 
bers grew on trees ! there were wonderful springs, whose waters 
were like I^ew-England rum ! deer and wolves were plenty, and 
people few. A copy of Morse's 'Gazetteer' gave somewhat 
better but still scanty information." 

He began his journey in charge of his elder brother, Alex- 
ander Ralston Chase, who was going West with the expectation 
of joining General Cass's expedition into the Indian country. 
This brother was in company with Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 
who afterward became so distinguished. 

The journey to Buffalo was uneventful. At Black Rock, near 
the city, they were to take the steamer, the Walk-in-the-Water, 
for Cleveland, but were somewhat delayed by reason of ice in 
the lake. Meantime, while so detained, Alexander Ralston Chase 
and Mr. Schoolcraft having gone on a visit to Niagara, Mr. 



^ "THE FERRY-BOY." H 

Salmon Poi i.laiid Chase felt sufficiently aggrieved at their omis- 
sion to take him along with them, to project a foot expedition 
there in company with a lad whose acquaintance he had formed 
sindfe his arrival in Buffalo. " The forest was burning," says 
Mr. Chase, " when we started, and the road lay thi-ough it and 
seemed dangerous, though probably there was no danger. At 
any rate we went through, and, almost wearied out, in the even- 
ing stopped at a farmer's two or three miles, perhaps, from the 
falls, and asked for lodgings for the night, which were cheer- 
fully given. Is it remembrance or fancy, that a pitcMork, with 
its steel points driven into the fl.oor so as to hold it nearly erect, 
vibrated from the jar of the cataract ? The next morning, ap- 
proaching the falls, we gazed wonderingly on the indescribable 
flow and roar of the waters. We descended the rude steps, and 
the rough and precipitous path which led down into the gorge 
at the foot of the falls ; and there was a new wonder — a hillock 
of ice, formed by the spray, rose just below the reach of the 
falling waters, forty or fifty feet high, and shone like a moun- 
tainous pearl in the sun ! Kear it I found my brother and Mr. 
Schoolcraft, who were a good deal surprised to see me, and per- 
haps a little displeased. But they took charge of me, and I got 
back to Buffalo much easier than I got to the falls." 

• The steamboat-ride to Cleveland was not a long one, though 
at the beo-innino; the Walk-in-the-Water was aided after a some- 
what novel method: several yoke of oxen were attached to her 
by tow-lines and materially assisted in forcing the current. In 
the open lake the steamer was helped in her progress, not by 
oxen, but by sails. At Cleveland his brother and Mr. School- 
craft left him, and, being compelled to remain there several days, 
he amused hhnself during some portion of his time by ferrying 
passengers across the Cuyahoga.' Presently he had an oppor- 

' In the winter of 1863 and '64 Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, wrote 
a series of letters to J. T. Trowbridge, Esq., of Boston, which contained a pretty 
full outline sketch of his life.* Those letters have been freely drawn upon for use in 
these pages, more especially with relation to Mr. Chase's earlier history. 

Mr. Trowbridge wrote an entertaining little book (intended particularly for boys' 
reading) which, joining invention and fact, contained enough of incident to make it 
popular, and it had a large sale. It was caUed " The Ferry-Boy and Financier," and 
derived its title — mo»e to be commended, perhaps, for alUteration than description 
— from Mr. Chase's brief ferry experiences on the Cuyahoga, as related in the text. 



12 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tunity to go to Medina, where a convention of Episcopal clergy- 
men was in session. From Medina he proceeded toward Wortli- 
ington in charge of two young men who had been delegates. 
" The settlement of the country," says Mr. Chase, " was only 
begun. Great forests stretched across the State. Carriage-ways 
were hardly practicable. Almost all traveling was performed 
on foot or on horseback. The two young men had two horses, 
and the arrangement was, that we were to Hde and tie : that is 
to say, one was to ride ahead some distance, then dismount and 
tie his horse, and walk forward. The person on foot was to come 
up, take the horse, ride on beyond the walker in front, then tie ; 
and so on. We passed through Wooster, staying there over 
night. The place seemed to me to be a great one, and the 
lighted houses as we went in after dark very splendid. In three 
or four days we reached Worthington. I entered the town 
walking, and met my uncle in the street with two or three of 
his clergy or friends." 



CHAPTEE III. 

THE bishop's school AT WOETHINGTON—" SHAVING A piG "— EE- 
MOVAL TO CmciKNATI— CDJCINKATI COLLEGE— AN INCmENT— 
EETUENS TO KEENE. 

A T Wortliington Mr. Chase entered upon Ms school-life, 
-i-^ with characteristic earnestness and energy. Amono- his 
associates were several who afterward attained to distincSon ; 
the more prominent, perhaps, being Charles D. Drake, late a 
Senator m Congress from Missouri, and now Chief -Justice of 
the United States Court of Claims ; and Brigadier Benjamin W. 
Brice, late Paymaster-General of the United States Army. 

He here studied Greek, and with success. His first public 
exercise— on an exhibition occasion in 1821— was an original 
Greek oration. "My subject," writes Mr. Chase, "was Paul 
and John compared ; Paul being the principal figure. What 
trouble I had," he continues, " to tm-n my English thoughts 
into Greek forms! The subject helped me, however, fo"^- it 
allowed me to take sentences from the Testament, and thus 
abridge my labors." But he was quite successful, and the good 
bishop was proud of his oration, and the orator was proud as 
the bishop. 

Out of school he did " chores "—took grain to mill and 
brought back meal or flour ; milked the cows ; drove them to 
and from pasture ; took wool to the carding-f actory « over on 
the Scioto ;" brought wood into the house in winter-time, and 
built fires ; helped to make maple-sugar in the proper season ; 
helped plant and sow ; in short, did whatever a boy of his years' 
could do on a farm, and earned his living by his labor. 



14 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

A ludicrous incident of liis "Wortliington life fastened itself 
strongly in his memory. One morning tlie bishop and all the 
older members of the family went away, leaving the boy at 
home, with directions to kill and dress ajpig for the next day's 
dinner. " I had no great difficulty," he says, " in catching and 
slaughtering a fat young porker. A tub of hot water was in 
readiness for plunging him in, preparatory to taking off his 
bristles. Unfortunately, however, the water was too hot, or 
perhaps when I soused the pig into it I kept him in too long. 
At any rate, when I undertook to remove the bristles, expecting 
they would come off almost of themselves, I found to my dis- 
may that I could not start one of them ! In pig-killing phrase, 
the bristles were set. I pulled, and pulled in vain. What was 
I to do ? The pig must be dressed ; about that there must be 
no failure. I thought of my cousin's razors — a nice new pair — 
just suited to the use of a spruce young clergyman as he was. 
IS"© sooner thought of than done. 1 got the razors, and shaved 
the pig from tail to snout ! I think the shaving was a success. 
The razors were damaged by the operation, howe\^er, but they 
were carefully cleaned and restored to their place. My im- 
pression is, that on the whole, the killing was not satisfactory 
to the bishop, and that my cousin did not find his razors ex- 
actly in condition for use the next morning ! But the opera- 
tion had its moral, and showed that where there is a will there 
is a way. 

" My uncle was a thoroughly practical, and at the same time 
a thoroughly religious man. He desired that I should become 
a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and took pains 
to make me read books which should convince me that it was 
the true Church. I read them and was convinced, and became 
■a zealous champion of the Episcopacy. It was here, too, that 
under the instructions of the bishop, I was confirmed ; and to 
me it seemed an awful and affecting act. The youth takes upon 
himself the promises made for him at baptism. Whatever may 
be the validity of promises made in behalf of an unconscious 
babe ; whether or not such promises add any thing to the force 
of the moral obligations which rest upon every human soul from 
the first dawn of consciousness, there can be no doubt as to the 
import of the pledges the youth makes when he receives confir- 



AT CINCINNATI COLLEGE. 15 

mation. I felt tliem deeply, and made earnest resolutions to 
keep them. 

" I was at "Worthington a little more than two years ; from 
June, 1820, to ]S"ovember or December, 1822. But the school 
was broken up during most of the second year, and my scholar- 
ship — such as it was — grew rusty. The bishop made me read 
some Latin, and of my own accord I read some histoi^y and 
books on church government. 

" The Church in Ohio was at this time weak and the Episco- 
pal revenue scanty. Most of its members were farmers, and 
few of those who followed other pursuits had considerable in- 
comes. Prices of all provisions were low : corn was ten and 
even six cents a bushel — the purchaser himself gathering it in 
the field. Twenty-five cents would buy a bushel of wheat, good 
and in good order. There were no good roads, no accessible 
markets, no revenue, and salaries were small. I have heard the 
bishop say that his whole money income, as bishop, did not pay 
his postage bills. It took a bushel of wheat to pay for the con- 
veyance of a letter over one hundred and sixty miles. 

" Under these circumstances, in 1822, Bishop Chase was of- 
fered the presidency of Cincinnati College, and in November of 
that year, I think removed thither with his family. 

" I entered the college a Freshman, but soon conceived the 
idea that by extra study I could be advanced to the next higher 
class. It was not over-difficult to accomplish this object, for the 
requirements of scholarship were not exacting. In a short time 
I offered myself to be examined for advanced standing ; was 
successful in the examination, and was promoted to the Sopho- 
more class. 

" It was not a study-loving set of boys who resorted to Cin- 
cinnati College at that time. "We made no great progress in 
our studies ; we began Homer in the Sophomore year, and were 
two weeks getting through the prolegomena of the first book. 
If ever we read any of the book itseK, I have forgotten it. 

" To make amends for defects of study, however, there was 
a deal of fun and mischief. One morning Dr. Slack came into 
the chapel for morning prayers, and found himself anticipated 
in the pulpit by a stuffed owl, with a pair of spectacles like his 
own ingeniously fastened over its glazed eyes. Not in the least 



16 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

disconcerted, tlie doctor removed tlie creature, and proceeded 
witli the service, to the discomfiture of the boys, who expected 
an explosion. At another time a cow was taken up into the 
second story — was entered, and graduated ! 

" I had little or nothing to do with these sports. When I 
had time I spent it in reading, either under the bishop's direc- 
tion or at my own will. I used to meditate a good deal on re- 
ligious topics; for my sentiments of religious obligation and 
reverence and responsibility, were profound." 

It was this strong and deep religious sense that sometimes 
made the lad run some risks rather than swerve from the truth. 
" One day," continues Mr. Chase, " a frolicsome and mischievous 
boy of the Sophomore class, just before the tutor came in, set 
fire to one of the desks. I tried to prevent it, but was unable 
to do so. It was burning when the tutor entered. He put the 
fire out, and at once directed us to take our seats. Mine was at 
the upper end of the class. He began with the one at the foot. 

'Sophomore , did you set fire to the desk?' 'l^o, sir.' 

' Do you know who did 'i ' ' No, sir.' He reached the culprit : 
' Did you set fire to the desk ? ' Nothing abashed, his answer 
was, ' No, sir.' ' Do you know who did ? ' ' No, sir.' I saw I 
had to pass the ordeal, and determined to tell the truth, but not 
to give the name of my class-mate, which I thought would be 
about as mean as to tell a lie would be wrong. The question 
came : ' Sophomore Chase, did you set fire to the desk ? ' ' No, 
sir.' ' Do you know who did ? ' ' Yes, sir.' ' Who was it ? ' 'I 
shall not tell you, sir.' He said no more. The case went before 
the faculty, and I heard was the subject of some discussion ; 
but it was not thought worth while to prosecute the inquiry. 

" The sojourn at Cincinnati was not long ; not quite a year. 
The bishop grieved over the poverty and destitution of the 
diocese. He wanted, above all things, a theological seminary 
for the education of young men for the ministry ; and he wanted 
a college, too, if he could establish one. He determined to go 
to England, and ask for help to the obtainment of these objects. 
He resigned the presidency of the college, and the family was 
broken up. I accompanied the bishop and his wife and their 
little children on their journey eastward, my own destination 
being my mother's house." 



\ 



RETURNS TO KEENE. 17 

At Kingston, on tlie Hudson, lie separated from the bisliop, 
wlio gave the lad his blessing and thi'ee or f onr dollars in money, 
" I was taken down to the river," says Mr. Chase, " and was put 
on board the boat for Albany. From Albany I went to Troy, 
and there learning the way to Bennington and Brattleboro, 
started to make across the mountains homeward. My scanty 
purse did not contain enough to pay stage-fare, and I walked ; 
getting an occasional ride from some farmer going my way. It 
was a gi*eat delight when I came within view of Monadnock — 
some thirty or forty miles off ; to see the grand old mountain 
lift his peaceful head heavenward, and seeming to look toward 
me with a sort of welcome. I reached at last the door of the 
yellow house, and hurried in, where my mother and sisters, sur- 
prised and glad, gave me a most affectionate welcome. How 
long the three years of absence now seemed ! " 
2 



^ 



CHAPTER lY. 

UNDEETAKES A SCHOOL AT EOXBUEY, AKD FAILS EOTALTON 

DAETMOTJTH COLLEGE SUCCESSFUL A3 A TEACHEE AT EEAD- 

IXG TEOUBLE WITH THE FACULTY OF THE COLLEGE — GEAD- 

UATES OUT IN THE WOELD. 

BUT, having arrived at home, writes Mr. Chase, " what was 
now to be done ? " It was soon determined that he should 
continue his studies, and do what was possible toward his own 
support. The loving and zealous mother thought she could spare 
enough from her scanty store, added to whatever sums he 
could earn for himself, to carry him through college. " How 
little I appreciated her sacrifices," he continues, " and it is sad 
to thini: — tears fill my eyes as I do think — ^how late comes true 
appreciation of them. Alas, how inadequately, until the be- 
loved mother who made them has gone beyond the reach of its 
manifestation ! " 

!Not long after his retm-n, a committee from an adjoining 
town (Eoxbury) came into Keene to engage a school-master. 
Application was made to Mr. Chase, and he was engaged at 
eight dollars a month " and board." In a few days he went to 
his district, and was promptly established in the house of a 
neighboring farmer as a boarder. He took charge of the school 
with much apprehension, but with courage and will. There 
was a goodly number of pupils, both boys and girls and of vari- 
ous ages ; some older even than the teacher. They were more 
disposed to fun and play than to study, and he found them hard 
to manage. One of them, senior in years and stronger in body 
than Mr. Chase at that time, took great liberties and incited to 
insubordination j was admonished and reproved, and then pun- 



AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE. 19 

islied. He subsided into obedience for tlie time being, but 
doubtless complained to his parents ; for a day or two afterward 
the teacber received a note from tbe proper authorities, express- 
ing a conviction that tbe school was not hkely to be useful 
under his government, and that his services' would be no longer 
required. He had been in charge less than a fortnight ! 

He returned to his mother's house, and thence went to 
Hojalton, Vermont ; there to continue his studies preparatory 
to his entrance into Dartmouth College at the approaching com- 
mencement. This was abou*- February, 1824. He was com- 
pelled to study hard, and dio o. Finally, he went to Hanover 
and presented himself for examination, for admission into the 
Junior class. He found that his apprehensions of a severe 
inquisition into his scholarship were not realized ; the professors 
were much engaged ; he was sent from one to another, ques- 
tioned a little, and was then admitted. One of the professors, 
among other questions, asked him, " "Where do the Hottentots 
live ? " The young man's impulse was to say, " In Hanover ! " 
but prudence came to his rescue. 

During the winter which followed his fii*st term at Dart- 
mouth, he again undertook the management of a Kew-England 
school ; this time with satisfactory success. It was at Reading, 
Vermont ; and here, as at Roxbmy, he was to " board around." 
He went back to Hanover with his earnings in his purse, and 
felt proud and happy that he had accomplished something for 
himself. 

• " The summer of 1825," writes Mr. Chase, " was marked for 
me by an event not Tinimportant in a boy's life. Some diffi- 
culty occurred in which a friend of mine, George Punchard, a 
warm-hearted, generous f eUow, the best speaker, though not the 
best scholar in the class, was involved. I had nothing to do 
with the affair itself, and do not now even remember what it 
was. But I took Punchard's part warmly, both because he was 
my friend and because I thought him unjustly censured. The 
faculty took the matter in hand ; and Punchard was suspended. 
I immediately waited upon the president to remonstrate. He 
received me kindly. I told him how finnly I was convinced 
that Punchard was innocent of the accusation made against him. 
He intimated that the faculty were the proper judges of that 



20 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

question, and had decided it. I said, ' Then I desire to leave 
the college also, for I don't wish to stay where a student is lia- 
ble to such injustice.' 'Had I consulted my mother?' 'No, 
but I wanted leave of absence for a few days, that I might do 
so.' ' You cannot have it,' said the president. ' Then, sir,' said 
I very respectfully, ' I must go without it.' He saw my deter- 
mination, and I think really respected the motive which prompt- 
ed it. At any rate, he at last consented to the leave. And Pun- 
chard and I left the Plain, as the site of the institution was 
called, together. It was with great satisfaction and a sort of 
seK-approval that I took my seat behind him on the ' one-horse 
chaise,' and bade good-by to those of my class-mates who wit- 
nessed our departure." 

" We went directly to Keene. There Punchard left me, and 
went to Salem, where his parents resided. My mother -v^el- 
comed me. She did not approve, but did not censure harshly. 
I could not help feeling that I had done right in standing by my 
friend, but I was sorry I had been obliged to leave college. 

" Fortunately, Punchard's suspension was soon ended, per- 
haps was shortened by the faculty, and we both returned, feeling 
ourselves somewhat of heroes. 

" Nothing of much interest occurred dming the remainder 
of my college-life. Commencement came, and from juniors we 
became seniors. According to usage, the foremost third of the 
class were admitted into the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Twelve 
or thirteen, I think, were fortunate enough to get in, I among 
them, almost if not quite the hindermost, for I had not been 
so fortunate as to find any one to be my mentor and guide, 
and did not properly appreciate or improve the opportunities I 
enjoyed. 

" Commencement approached, when we were to receive our 
diplomas, and, taking leave of Alma Mater, were to go forth to 
try the world. In the assignments of the commencement exer- 
cises, I ranked eight — ^not discreditably low, nor yet creditably 
high. The faculty offered me, for my part, a poem or an ora- 
tion. I attempted a poem, but could not satisfy my own taste, 
and abandoned the effort. I then prepared an oration on ' Liter- 
ary Curiosity.' It was meagre enough, but when my turn 
came to speak, and the president, seated in state, with his black 



LEAVES HOME FOR THE SOUTH. 21 

academic cap on liis head and a black-silk robe enveloping Lis 
person, uttered tlie awful words, ' Froximus ascendat ; oratio 
per Salmon P. Chase,' I went forward with great assm-ance that 
I was to make a very decided impression ; and I dare say I did, 
but of a different sort from that I anticipated. All I remember 
is, that I got through. 

" It was now my purpose to go South, and teach school for 
a time, and then pursue whatever profession might appear to 
me the best. I had not quite relinquished the idea of becom- 
ing a clergyman, but greatly doubted whether I had any right 
to take upon myseK the duties of so sacred an office." ' 

The interval between the close of his student-life and his 
departure for the South, was spent in visitiag among his rela- 
tives and friends, chiefly with his mother and sister at Hopkin- 
ton. " But time and the hour runs through the longest day," 
and the morning of separation at last arrived. " My dear 
mother," he says, " gave me the little money she could provide 
rather than spare. It was yet dark when I arose and partook 
of the early breakfast prepared for me, and with my mother's 
blessing, and a sad yet hopeful heart, I left home for — the 
world. A short ride of ten or twelve miles brought me to 
Windsor, still before day; at that place I took the stage. 
Again I was climbing the Green Mountains; again I passed 
through Albany — now, however, my face southward instead of 
to the west ; down the Hudson to 'New York, and thence on- 
ward to Philadelphia, whert, I met my uncle, the bishop, who 
had returned from a successful visit in England, and was now 
busily engaged in building up Kenyon College." After a short 
stay with the bishop, he went to Baltimore, where, however, he 
remained but a day or two, and then proceeded to Frederick 
City, in which place he hoped to establish himself in a school. 



CHAPTER y. 

FEEDEEICK CITT, MAEYLAXD ON TO TVASHINGTON ADYEETISES A 

SELECT CLASSICAL SCHOOL ^NO EESULTS TRIES FOE A CLEEK- 

SHIP ME. AXD MES. PLUMLET ME. PLUMLEY GIVES UP HIS 

SCHOOL SUCCESS^—" THE SISTEES " STUDENT IN WILLIAM 

WIET's OFFICE JOHN EANDOLPH WILLIAM WERT ^ADMISSION 

TO THE BAR GOES WEST. 

BUT hope of success at Frederick fled after a day or two 
spent in tliat city, and Mr. Chase proceeded at once to 
"WasHngton. His little store of money was melting rapidly 
away mider continuous demands for traveling and other ex- 
penses, and he found himseK, immediately upon his an-ival in 
the capital — ahout the first of December, 1826 — ^under the ne- 
cessity of finding prompt" employment. "How well I remem- 
ber," he writes, " the earnest prayer which went up from my 
heart that God would give me work to do, and success in doing 
it ! " He had letters to several persons in the city, particularly 
to the Kev. Drs. Hawley and Allen, the former Eector of St. 
John's Episcopal Church. Both these gentlemen were inter- 
ested in him, but were able to do no more than bring him to the 
favorable acquaintance of their friends. Then he resolved upon 
action for himself. On the morning of the 23d of December, 
1826, the National Intelligencer contained an advertisement 
over the signature of Salmon P. Chase, which announced that 
on the second Monday of the following January, he would open, 
in the western part of the city, a select classical school, the spe- 
cial advantages of which were set forth with some minuteness ; 



EARLY EXPERIENCES AT WASHINGTOK 23 

all depending more or less, however, upon this particular feat- 
ure — that the number of his pupils should not exceed twenty. 

There was no response ; days went painfully and anxiously 
by, and his money was nearly exhausted, and so, too, were his 
hopes of the classical school. Only a single gleam of success and 
happiness broke upon him ; a ^-isitor was announced, French by 
birth and Bonfils by name, who sought a school for his son. 
The interview was satisfactory on both sides, ending in an en- 
gagement between them; and Mr. Chase, with a proud and 
gratified heart, inscribed upon his register the name of his first 
pupil, Columbus Bonfils. But alas ! Columbus Bonfils long re- 
mained both first and last, the alpha and omega of his hopes. 

At length he resolved upon another expedient. He had 
heard of clerkships in the Executive Departments, and he coidd 
see no good reason why he micr at not procure one ; and while 
perfoiTuing its duties, pm-sue also the study of a profession. 
This did not seem to him a very difficidt undertaking, seeing 
that his uncle Dudley, the Senator, was a known friend and sup- 
porter of Mr. Adams's Administration. Accordingly he went 
to the Senator's lodgings, told the story of his efforts to procure 
a school, how desperate the expectation of scholars seemed, and 
his project for a clerkship ; then asked his uncle's help. The 
Senator's response was not likely to be forgotten, and never was 
forgotten. " I once procured an office for a nephew of mine," 
he said, " and he was ruined by it. I then determined I never 
would ask for another. I will lend you fifty cents with which 
to buy a spade ; but I cannot help you to a clerkship." The 
young man departed from his imcle's presence both sadder and 
wiser than when he entered it. 

The Rev. Dr. Hawley being, however, not only a kind- 
hearted gentleman, but also a true friend, was watchful of op- 
portunity to render the young man real service ; and one day 
gave him a note to Mr. A. R. Plumley, a teacher of excellent 
repute in the city, who had a large school of both boys and 
girls ; rather too large, indeed, for entirely successful adminis- 
tration. " I know it will afford you pleasure," wrote Dr. Hawley, 
" to aid a young man of talents and piety in obtaining a school 
where his services as a teacher may defray his cm-rent expenses 
while reading law." With this note Mr. Chase one morning 



34 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

presented himself at Mr. Plmnley's house, and found that gen- 
tleman and Mrs. Plumley at home. He was received with great 
courtesy and kindness by both these excellent persons, though at 
the beginning of the interview Mr. Plumley gave him no en- 
couragement. But not cast down, notwithstanding his disap- 
pointment — for he had gone to Mr. Plumley filled with hope, 
and was disappointed — the young man said, simply, " Well, I 
am resolved I will have a school," and took his leave. 

" He will make his mark in the world," said Mi*s. Plumley, 
after he was gone, divining, with the instinctive sagacity of wo- 
man, the superior qualities of their visitor. 

Influenced a good deal by his wife's judgment, and a good 
deal by other considerations — not the least of them being a gener- 
ous willingness to do a friendly act — Mr. Plumley determined to 
resign his boys' department, and rehnquished it accordingly into 
the hands of Mi\ Chase. It contained eighteen or twenty pu- 
pils, and these, with Columbus Bonfils, formed the first charge 
undertaken by Mr. Chase in his " Select Classical Seminary." 

" Almost every moment of my time," he also wrote to L. H. 
on the 2d of February, 1827, " is occupied. The printed page 
of the sheet upon which this letter is written will inform you 
of the name of my school and the range of studies.' I have 
about twenty pupils (if I could be assured of the constant at- 
tendance of sixteen, I should rest satisfied), at various prices, 
from five to twelve and a haK dollars per quarter. I shall, in 
the spring, however, estabhsh a uniform price, with only two or 
three exceptions. My school is as pleasant a one as I could ex- 
pect under the circumstances, and I hope will become profitable 
next year." And not long after, he writes again : " I am com- 
pelled to study and read a good deal to keep ahead of my class, 
which has in it a number of bright, ambitious boys ; " among 

1 The studies pursued at Mr. Chase's " Select Classical Seminary " were : The 
Latin and Greek Languages; Murray's English Grammar; Ancient and Modern 
Geography ; Ancient and Modem History ; Mathematics ; Natural Philosophy ; In- 
tellectual Philosophy; Rhetoric; Moral Philosophy; Natural Theology; and the 
Evidences of Christianity. Mr. Chase pledged himself also to give special attention 
to the moral training of his pupils, and did it 

* " There was one lad among my pupils at this time," says Mr. Chase, " whom I 
regarded as the most promising of my school ; but unfortunately he became, after 
he left, a clerk in the Treasury, and I found him in the same department when I 
took charge of it ! " 



HABITS OF LIFE AND STUDY. 25 

them, sons of Mi". Clay, William Wirt, Mr. Southard, General 
Bernard," and other distinguished persons. 

His habits of life and study were characteristic. He arose 
between five and six in the morning — generally nearer the former 
than the latter hoiu* — and studied or occupied himself with his 
pen until breakfast, at haK-past seven. He then went to his 
school-room, and remained there four hours ; then followed an 
hour of intermission, after which school-services were resimied, 
and continued until three o'clock, when the pupils were dis- 
missed. Then dinner, and at four o'clock he was ready to at- 
tend a class of yoimg ladies (he had a small class in the lighter 
branches), with whom he remained three hours. From seven 
o'clock in the evening he was at leisure to pursue his own in- 
clinations, and these led him, in the main, to his pen * and his 

' Among his literary exercises of this period was the short poem called " The 
Sisters," written November, 1828, and addressed to Elizabeth and Catharine Wirt, 
daughters of the Attorney-General, printed at first for private circulation, and then 
finding its way into the newspapers : 

" It was an eve of summer. The bright sun, 
With all his flood of glory, like a king 
With pomp of unfurled banners, had gone down. 
A single cloud ,in which all rays that light 
The diamond, opal, or the chrysolite, 
Met in their mingled brightness, hung above 
The place of his departure. Over that 
Rose pile on pile of gorgeous clouds, a wall 
With tower and battlement, that seemed to rise 
Magnificently grand, as if to mock 
The show of glory earth sometimes puts on. 
The zephyrs were abroad among the flowers, 
Filling the air with fragrance, while around, 
From silver rills and the breezy trees, 
And from earth's thousand founts of harmony. 
Came gushes of sweet sound. On such an eve 
I saw, upon the bank of a small stream. 
Whose waters glowed with the rich, golden light, 
That, like a mantle wrought by angel-hands. 
Covered the world with beauty, two, who seemed 
Rilther the habitants of some pure star 
Than dwellers of this earth. They were both young 
And lovely, but unUke ; as two sweet flowers 
Are sometimes seen, both exquisitely fair. 
Though clothed with different hues. The one went by 
With a light, fawn-like step, that scarcely crushed 
The springing flower beneath it. Life had been 
To her a poet's dream, where all things bright 
And beautiful concentrated, like the rays 
That mingling form the sunbeam, and tlie earth 
Was lovely still, as in the olden time. 
When, at this hour, celestial spirits came 



26 ^ LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

books — for he wrote and studied incessantly. He added some- 
what to his income by literary labor ; so that, upon the whole, 
he was prosperous and contented, although the drudgery of mere 
teaching was extremely distasteful. 

In September, 1827, he became a student-at-law in the office 
of "William Wirt, at that time Attorney-General of the United 
States and in the splendid maturity of liis powers, but too con- 
To admire her virgin beauties, and adore 

The great Creator, manifested best 

By works that He hath wrought. Her countenance 

Was radiant with joy, though shaded oft 

By her dark tresses, as the wanton breeze 

Played sportively among her locks of jet. 

She was not very beautiful ; and yet 

There was that in her dark, bright, joyous eyes, 

And in the expression of her speaking face. 

Where, amid the graces, dwelt perpetual smiles, 

As sunshine dwells upon the summer wave. 

Changing forever, yet forever bright. 

With the sweet frankness of confiding youth, 

And the pure hght that evermore pours out 

Prom the mind's fountain, that demanded more 

Than the cold name of beauty, which may be 

The attribute of beings whom no ray 

Of intellect illumines and no charm 

Of loveliness invests. The other's step 

Was not so buoyant, and her eye had less 

Of mirth and gladness in it, and her cheek 

Was sometimes paler ; but, when gentle airs 

Parted the tresses that hung o'er her brow, 

It was as when light suddenly breaks forth 

From rifted clouds in April. She was one 

For whom a life were a small sacrifice. 

Ay, to be deemed as nothing ! Pensive grace 

Was in her every motion, and her look 

Had something sacred in it, that declared 

The pure and guileless spirit that dwelt within. 

Thou lovely one 1 May life still be for thee 

A peaceful voyage o'er a summer sea. 

By gentle gales attended ; and at length, 

Purified wholly from the primal taint. 

That still attends earth's loveUest, enter thou 

The port of endless peace ! 

They passed away ; " 
Such visions never last ; and, ray by ray. 
From earth and sky, and from the sparkling wave, 
The glory all departed. Even so — 
I thought, and with the thought a heavy sigh 
Came from my inmost heart — must fade away 
All that the earth of the beautiful inherits. 
And so must these bright creatures pass from earth, 
Leaving behind, to tell that they have been. 
Naught but the memory of their loveliness, 
Like fragrance lingering still around the spot, 
Where late the rose was blooming ! " 



ANTISLAVERY PETITION OF 1828. 27 

stantlj and extensively engaged in public and private profes- 
sional labors to give much attention to the young gentlemen 
under his tuition ; so that Mr. Chase did not derive much bene- 
fit from the great legal knowledge and abilities of his distin- 
guished preceptor. But he had the advantage of association 
with the lawyers and law-students of the city ; sometimes at- 
tended the courts, and occasionally — not at all frequently, how- 
ever — went into the Senate or House of Representatives ; became 
an active and useful member of the Blackstone Club — at one 
time its president — and contributed to its exercises some essays 
on legal topics which illustrated . the thoroughness of his study 
and the thoughtfulness of his mind. 

Of course he took an interest in the current politics, and was 
violently anti-Jackson, not so much from a well-considered judg- 
ment of his own as from family tradition ; his father having 
been rather a fierce Federalist, while his uncle Dudley, for- 
merly a supporter of Madison, was now arrayed on the Adams 
side. In 1828 Mr. Chase was one of those who drew up a peti- 
tion to Congress praying for the abolition of slavery and the 
slave-trade in the District of Columbia. What it was that occa- 
sioned this petition it is difficult to say ; probably it grew out of 
the painful case of Gilbert Horton, a free colored citizen of ISTew 
York, who, being on business at "Washington, was seized and im- 
prisoned on suspicicn- of being a slave. This occurrence (in 
182Y) led to some important discussion in Congress on the sub- 
ject of slavery in the District, and probably to the petition re- 
ferred to. At any rate his connection with it was his first pubKc 
political act. 

During this period of his Washington life he expressed him- 
self with the natural ardor of impetuous young manhood ; and, 
though he had political sympathies, it cannot be said that he had 
as yet any solid political opinions. These he formed in future 
years, and in a direction that did not peculiarly fit him for a 
very close association with either of the political parties of that 
day. 

However, his ideas of the order and dignity of legislative 
action were a good deal shocked by what he saw in Congress. 
" There is little pleasure to be derived from attendance there," 
he said, in a letter to L. H., in April, 1828, " and less profit. It 



28 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

would astonisli you to see tlie indifference manifested, wliile a 
member addresses the House, by bis brother members. One is 
stretched at full length upon a sofa, a handkerchief spread over 
his face as if endeavoring to sleep ; another is marching to and 
fro behind the Speaker's chair ; here perhaps a little knot of 
politicians may be discovered in earnest conversation ; there 
some members are ^\Titing letters or reading newspapers ; some 
are stupidly gazing upon the orator, and few listening with any 
expectation of profit or instruction in his words. You may go 
to Congress twenty times in a day, and you will witness just 
such a scene as this." Of public men he wrote with great free- 
dom, and for some had feelings of profound aversion. His de- 
scription of John Randolph is sufficiently characteristic : " The 
House now presents," he wrote to Charles Dexter Cleveland, in 
February, 1828, " nearly the same scene as the Senate presented 
two years ago, as if John Randolph carried with him a pestilen- 
tial influence corrupting every thing it touches. It is strange 
that this man is so popular in his State, but more strange that he 
is allowed to exercise his fantastic humors in the House without 
check and almost without rebuke — a man who ' has been every 
thing by starts and nothing long ; ' who opposed Jefferson, Mad- 
ison, and Monroe ; who is an aristocrat at heart and disordered 
in intellect ; the scorn of the wise, the laughing-stock of the gay, 
and the abhorrence of the good." He had no hero save Mr. 
"Wirt ; for that gentleman he formed a deep and lasting attach- 
ment, loving him as well for the warm qualities of his heart as 
for the vigor and splendor of his intellect. When in 1829, Mr. 
Wirt wrote him a letter predicting for him future usefulness 
and distinction, and proffering advice and friendship, the young 
man gratefully responded : " God prospering my exertions, I will 
imitate your example. There is something to me peculiarly 
pleasing in the character of one who, having himself trod the 
paths of hfe successfully under the smiles of indulgent Heaven, 
turns round to cheer and encourage the yoimg and inexperienced 
traveler. I admire Cicero in the forum, wielding the burnished 
weapons of rhetoric; I more than admire him when, in the 
midst of a trembhng and doubtful senate, he rises — in the true 
faith of Socrates, that no evil can happen to a good man — to con- 
front the audacious Catiline ; I venerate him as the father of his 



t 
I 



PREPARES FOR THE BAR, 29 

country, when tlie traitor is driven from the walls and the nas- 
cent conspu-acy is crushed; hut Hove him when I behold him 
in the villa of Lucullus, interesting himseK in the education 
and prospects of its young owner." And he felt all and more 
than he said. In the delightful family of Mr. Wirt, and among 
the friends of the family, Mr. Chase found all of social life that 
his heart desired, and was happy in it. " I became slightly ac- 
quainted with a number of prominent characters," he writes to 
Mr. Trowbridge, "but was too diffident to push myseK into 
notice ; possibly too proud to ask for recognition, and pref eri'ing 
to wait for it; too indifferent also — a more serious fault — to 
what transpired around me to take much pains to acquaint my- 
seK with the histories and men of the hour. I made much too 
little use of the advantages which a residence in Washington at 
that period afforded. I was poor and sensitive ; a young teacher, 
needing myself to be taught and guided." 

But the time came when the permanent business of life was 
to begin. He had continued his occupation as a teacher for 
nearly three years, from February, 182Y, until near the end of 
October, 1829, when he relinquished it and devoted himseK with 
assiduity to preparing for examination preliminary to admission 
to the bar. This examination took place on the 21st of Decem- 
ber following. " The most distinguished men in the legal pro- 
fession," says Mr. Chase in one of his "personal memoranda," 
" do not always give early promise of future eminence. I have 
never attained much professional distinction, and have not wholly 
deserved what I have attained. My reading for the bar had not 
been diligent or very extensive. I had looked through Burla- 
maqui at college. After I went to Washington, in 1826, and 
had opened my school in the spring of 1827, 1 received as pupils 
the sons of William Wirt, and was received by him as a student- 
at-law. It may well be believed that between the cares of a 
school and other duties, and the attractions of society and espe- 
cially of the delightful family circle of Mr. Wirt — ^where I was 
ever welcomed with cordial kindness — I made no great progress 
in legal lore. Mr. Will; never examined me. Only once did he 
put a question to me about my studies. He asked me one day 
while I was reading Blackstone if I understood him. I answered 
confidently, ' Yes.' But I was greatly mistaken, as I afterward 



30 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

found. Tlie knowledge obtained by bare reading is of very lit- 
tle value. Books must be meditated and talked to be under- 
stood and converted into mental aliment. 

"I forget what books I read besides ' Blackstone's Com- 
mentaries ; ' ' Cruise's Digest,' I think [be read ' Kutherf ortb's 
Institutes,' also], and perhaps some others — 'Dabymple on 
Feudal Law,' I remember as one, but the catalogue was very 
short. 

" Yery seldom, I imagine, has any candidate for admission to 
the bar presented himself for examination with a slenderer stock 
of learning. I was examined in open court. The venerable and 
excellent Justice Cranch put the questions. I answered as well 
as I was able — ^how well or how ill I cannot say — but certainly, 
I think, not very well. Finally, the Judge asked me how long I 
had studied. I replied that, including the time employed in 
reading in college and the scraps devoted to legal reading before 
I regularly commenced the study, and the time since, I thought 
three years might be made up. The Judge smiled and said, 
' "We think, Mr. Chase, that you must study another year and 
present yourseK again for examination.' ' Please your honors,' 
said I deprecatingly, ' I have made all my arrangements to go to 
the Western country and practise law.' The kind Judge yielded 
to this appeal, and turning to the clerk said, ' Swear in Mr. 
Chase.' Perhaps he would have been less facile if he had not 
known me personally and veiy well." 

It is important here to avoid misconception. At the time of 
Mr. Chase's examination the law of Maryland made three years' 
study an essential prerequisite to admission to the bar of the 
State, and the objection of Justice Cranch went, not to want of 
sufficiently extensive and accurate legal learning on the part of 
Mr. Chase — ^for, in point of fact, he had passed an unusually 
creditable examination — ^but to a fear that he had not met the 
demands of the statute in respect of the three years' time re- 
quired to be devoted to study. 

Having been admitted, however, Mr. Chase prepared for his 
departure from the capital. He had entertamed some thoughts 
of establishing himself at Baltimore ; but had ultimately deter- 
mined upon the West. " I would rather be first," he wrote to 
his friend Cleveland — "I would rather be first twenty years 



BEGINS LIFE AT CINCINNATI. 3X 

hence at Cincinnati tlian at Baltimore. As I have ever been 
first at school and college (except at Dartmouth, where I was 
miich too idle), I shall ever strive to he first wherever I may be, 
let what success will attend the effort. It can do no harm to 
try, and ' fearing the attempt,' we often fail of the attainment 
which might easily attend us." But his ambition to be first 
among his fellows was tempered by the promptings of his con- 
science : " I feel," he wrote to L. H., shortly after his arrival in 
Cincinnati, " that the fever of life brings with it only the joys 
of delirium to those who place their chief happiness in the 
achievement of a lofty and distinguished fame. May God en- 
able me to be content with the consciousness of faithfully dis- 
charging all my duties, and deliver me from a too eager thirst 
for the applause and favor of men ! " 

He arrived in Cincinnati in March, 1S30 ; was admitted to 
the bar of Ohio in the following June, and at once entered — 
with ardor and hope — upon the active work of a lawyer's life. 



/ 



V .- 



CHAPTEE YI. 

BEGmS LIFE AS A LAWYEK AT CESTCINNATI SPECULATION EST 1836 

^THE LYCEUM AND SOME LITEEAKY WORK: EULOGY UPON 

BEOUGHAM CHASE's STATUTES COMMENDATIONS OF CHAN- 

CELLOE KENT AND JUSTICE STOEY. 

IT is not possible, witliin the assigned limits of this volume, 
to give any extended account of Mr. Chase's labors in his 
profession, except in so far as those labors had an influence upon 
the political sentiment and public affairs of the country. It is 
perhaps enough to say, concerning them, that they were dis- 
tinguished by the vigor, the careful industry, and the con- 
scientiousness, which marked all his work.' These elements of 

* Mr. Chase to his Brother, Edwin I. Chase. 

" CnfoiNNATi, September 17, 1880. 

" Mt dear Brother : Tour last letter was received this evening, and I only an- 
ticipate my previous intention a day or two by answering it immediately. I sympa- 
pathize with you in your unaccountable depression of spirits. I am frequently 
visited with such feelings ; which overcome me Uke a summer's cloud, but, like a 
summer's cloud, they are generally very transient, passing away with the occasion 
that gave birth to them. The best specific I know of against them is constant em- 
ployment ; the mind must be kept in constant action. 

" I wish, in answer to your questions, I could tell you of a long list of suits in 
court, and crowding clients, and other agreeable things of that nature. But you 
must remember I have had an office only from the beginning of the month, and that 
here — where the members of the bar are so numerous, and business generally has 
formed a channel for itself — it is idle for a young man to expect much business at 
the start. I thought, and still think, that if I can ma^e ten dollars in the first three 
months, twenty in the next three, forty in the next three, and eighty in the next, 
I shall do well. If I shall be able in the second year to pay my own expenses, and 
the third to make as much more than my expenses as in the first year I fall short, 
I shall be fully satisfied. If this be my lot, I shall, at the age of twenty-five, be 
established in my profession, out of debt, with a fair income, and able, and I trust 
wiUing, to aid others as I have myself felt the need of aid. After all, however, 



SUCCESS AND EMBARRASSMENT. 33 

cliaracter rapidly brouglit him into public notice ; he formed 
excellent professional connections, and his business grew to be 
large and profitable, and included many important causes. "With 
extensive practice came, of course, corresponding money re- 
wards ; and if he did not arrive at affluence, he did, at an early 
period of his life, reach a condition of moderate fortune. In 
1837 he was seized with the prevailing speculative fever, and 
became somewhat involved. " I have no complaint to make 
about hard times," he wrote to his friend Cleveland, " and have 
a poor opinion of this way of evading self -censure by ascribing 
the consequences of our own folly and wrong-doing to abstrac- 
tions. I recognize, in the embarrassments which I share, the 
necessary results of a system 1 once approved and engaged in, 
rather hoping than believing it to be right. I intend, with 
God's blessing, to pay the debts I owe as speedily as possible, 
and I trust I never again shall be tempted into speculation of 
any sort " — a resolution from which, in after-life, he never de- 
parted.* But this temporary engagement in business, external 
to his profession, did not for a moment swerve him from the 
utmost application to the interests of his clients. He labored 
incessantly, and carried his application to that degree, that in 
the mid-winter of 1836 and 183Y, he suffered from a protracted 
and dangerous sickness. But worh became the natural temper 
and habit of his mind, because he beheved in it as a duty. 

' Some portion of his time, however, he devoted to less exact- 
one's success in life depends not so much on the accidental circumstances which 
may surround him, as upon the active energy of his own character. . . . All that 
we have to do is to march steadily up to the objects which, Hke ghosts, appear 
in our path, but vanish when we draw near to them. Set your mark high, my 
dear brother, and I have no fears for you. Do not think it safe to spend any mo- 
ment idly ; it is not safe 

" Your afiectionate brother, 

"Salmon Portland Chase. 

" P. S. — ^When speaking of my professional situation, I omitted to mention that I 
have yet had but two visitors in the shape of clients ; from one of whom I never ex- 
pect to get any thing. From the other I received four dollars." 

* " It was during his term as Secretary of the Treasury that his bankers invested 
some thousands of dollars of his money in a stock which rose a few months after- 
ward, giving a profit on the transaction of some four thousand dollars. A check 
for the amount, nearly a year's salary of a Cabinet officer" (at that time), "was sent to 
Mr. Chase. He returned it to be destroyed, and declined utterly the increase made 
upon his money." — Demarest Lloyd. 
3 



34 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ing and laborious employments, and foimd happiness and relief 
in doing so. He delivered an occasional address before a Ijceum 
or agricultural society, and made some valuable contributions to 
the current literature. An article on Lord Brougham — origi- 
nally written and delivered as a Lecture before the Cincinnati 
Lyceum, an institution in which Mr. Chase took an active in- 
terest — printed, in the North Ameincan Heview, for July, 1831, 
furnishes an index to the great thoughts that even then were in 
his mind, and which afterward found such powerful expression. 
He honored Brougham, he said, " not for the splendor of his 
natural endowments, nor the vast and rich variety of his acqui- 
sitions ; but for the use to which he has devoted them all. He 
has set them ajpartfor the service of mcmkind. He has a title 
more glorious than kings can give or schools bestow ; a title con- 
ferred upon him by the unsolicited suffrage of the world. He 
is the advocate of human liherty. He belongs to a great party, 
which has arisen in modern times — we mean the party of the 
friends of freedom — universal freedom ; who confine their re- 
gards within the limits of no geographical boundaries, and to no 
peculiar texture or color of the skin." 

A work of great magnitude and importance was projected by 
him soon after his arrival in Cincinnati, and successfully accom- 
plished ; which gave him an immediate and solid claim to dis- 
tinction, and at once placed him in the foremost rank among the 
lawyers of his State, if not of the nation. It was a new edition 
of the Statutes of Ohio, afterward and now familiarly known 
as " Chase's Statutes." Some idea of the extent of this work may 
be formed, and of its immense demands upon the intellectual 
faculties and physical endurance of its author, when its whole 
scope and arrangement are understood. It required a careful 
reading and an intent study, in itself and in aU its connections 
prior and subsequent to its enactment, of every general law 
enacted by the annual Legislatm-es of the ^Northwestern Ter- 
ritory and of the State of Ohio, from the first appearance of 
written laws in the former, in 1788, down to 1833 inclusive, a 
period of forty-six years. The statute laws in force in Ohio in 
1833 were to be found in four volumes of adopted laws, three 
volumes of territorial enactments, and thirty-one volumes of 
general statutes of the State, besides many local statutes. "With 



CHASE'S "STATUTES OF OHIO." 35 

none of tliese, of course, did Mr. Cliase have any acquaintance 
when he began practice at Cincinnati ; but, in addition to the 
labor ah-eady indicated, was the preparation and incoi^poration 
into the work of such notes and references as would enable the 
practitioner to find, with ease and certainty, what at any time 
was the written law there on any subject, with references also to 
the decisions of the coui-ts. As every lawyer will at once per- 
ceive, the value of such a work lay in its entire and admitted 
completeness and accuracy. In neither of these points have 
" Chase's Statutes,^'' probably, ever been questioned ; in both they 
are believed to be unsm-passed by any similar work in this 
country. " They are at once a monument to his talents and 
industry, and his recognized claim to the gratitude of the bar 
of Ohio." " His waiting time," said Chief -Justice Drake ^ — re- 
ferring to that period in Mr. Chase's life which lay between 
the beginning of his professional career and the establishment 
of a successful practice — " he bravely determined should be one 
of work, heavy and exacting work, such as probably no young 
lawyer of twenty-two years of age ever ventured upon before or 

since." 

Chancellor Kent to Salmon Portland Chase. 

'.'New York, July 1, 1835. 

.... " Tour edition of the ' Statutes of Ohio ' is a great work, and does 
credit to your enterprise, industry and accuracy, and I wi|^ you might be 

• " Of all his contemporaries he had as little faculty as any for winning practice 
on the street. From the first it was manifest that whatever he obtained was to come 
to him as the reward of integrity, abilitv -^JeUty and industry. This only made it 
the more certain that he must wait for success, as must all young lawyers. Whether 
the period of waiting shall be to any such the seed-time for a I'ich harvest, depends 
upon how it is occupied. Mr. Chase was conspicuous for his upright life, his per- 
sonal dignity, his steady devotion to his profession, and his ardent purpose to 
achieve success, if assiduous, earnest and faithful labor could command it." — Chief- 
Justice Charles D. Drake. 

But, although ample success finally crowned his labor and patience, the first two 
or three years at Cincinnati were filled with anxieties and hardships ; they were 
» years of unremitting toil and inadequate rewards. The tradition is, that his first fee 
was a silver half-dollar, which his client paid on Tuesday and borrowed back on 
Wednesday, and never repaid. A second tradition runs, that his first argument (be- 
fore a United States Court in 1834) was an almost utter failure ; that he broke down 
at the very beginning, and finished it with labor and difficulty. One of the Judges 
congratulated him : " On what? " asked Mr. Chase, in great surprise and with some 
temper. " On your failure," responded the Judge ; who saw, or professed to see, in 
it an anxious sohcitude which sooner or later would certainly achieve success. 



36 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

amply rewarded. I have run over both volumes with great care, and 
studied those acts that are in force, and the third edition of my ' Commen- 
taries ' (which I shall put to the press this ensuing autumn) will show how 
far I have been enabled to correct mistakes and avail myself of its advan- 
tages. I intend to do myself the honor to present you with a coj)y of this 
edition when it comes out next spring. 

" I consider Ohio as one of the most important States in the Union, and 
its jurisprudence and laws ought to be as well and accurately and fully 
known as those of any other State. I shall do all I can to effect it. Your 
' Historical Sketch of the History of Ohio,' prefixed to the first volume, is 
admirable, and written with impartiality, truth, and eloquence. I shall not 
fail to incorporate the whole of the Ordinance of 1787, in proper places, ia 
my ' Commentaries,' and refer in the Index to every part. I feel mortified 
that I have been too inadvertent of that document, while so much atten- 
tion has been paid to foreign ordinances. Tour patience is particularly 
praiseworthy, for I never witnessed before such a mutable legislation as 
your volume displays. It is unparalleled in the history of this country. 
Your statute law seems to have been in constant revolution, like the re- 
'volving lights on some of our sea-girt promontories. The militia laws are 
enormously long, and reenacted, in extenso, at almost every session. The 
constitution of Ohio ought to have provided that twelve and a half per cent., 
at least, ought to be deducted from the wages of the Legislature every session 
that they tax the public with a new militia law. So your revolving legisla- 
tion as to organizing and holding Judicial Courts and punishing and de- 
fining crimes^ and justices' attachment laws, etc., etc., are enough to pro- 
voke the patience of Job ; and how you could endure the task of revising 
and correcting the proof of such laws, I can hardly conceive, with all my 
own habits of perseverance. 

" But you have your reward in the good you have done, in the talents 
you have shown, and in the gratitude of your profession, and I beg leave 
to add my own, with the assurances of the highest respect and regards of 

" Your most ob't serv't, 

"James Kekt." 

Associate- Justice Joseph Story to Salmon Portland Chase. 

" Washington, March 1, 1S34. 
.... "I had the pleasure, two days ago, to receive the copy of your 
edition of the 'Statutes of Ohio,' which you very obligingly sent me. I^ 
beg to return you my sincere thanks for this very acceptable present. I 
have read over your preface, and am greatly pleased with it, as well as 
your able execution of the whole work. It was truly a desideratum, con- 
sidering the bulky and inconvenient volumes in which your Statutes were 
collected ; and does equal honor to your enterprise, your industry and your 
talents. I wish, with all my heart, that other States would imitate this 
example, for in most of them there is a sad neglect of the old repealed 



CHASE'S "STATUTES OF OHIO." 37 

laws ; and it is extremely difficult to trace out the Mstory and progress of 
their legislation. I trust that there will be no want of encouragement to 
complete your most meritorious work, and shall feel honored by the privi- 
lege of having a copy of it in my library. . . . 

" Your obliged servant, 

"Joseph Stokt." 

The work, liowever, was not pecuniarily a success. An edi- 
tion of one thousand copies was printed at a large expense ; sev- 
eral hundi'ed copies of the second volume were lost by fire ; and 
of all the copies printed the State subscribed for but one hun- 
dred and fifty. Mr. Chase received about one thousand dollars 
for his labor upon the work ; and probably the publishers 
(Corey & Fairchild, of Cincinnati) made no more, if so much, 
after deducting expenses and cost of capital employed. 



( 



-/ 



CHAPTEK YII. 



THE PRESIDENTIAL CAJSTVASS OF 1832 — AlfTI-MASONS ^ME. WIRT 

THELR CANDIDATE " THE BIENET MOB " " THE PHILAN- 

THKOPISt" — ^MK. CHASE ON THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS THE 

MATILDA CASE NORTON 8. T0WN8HEND TRIAL OF MR. BIRNEY. 

ALTHOUGH Mr. Chase at tliis period had allied himself to 
no political party, the course of political events was not 
wholly unobserved by him, nor were they without a personal in- 
terest. In 1832 his friend and former preceptor, William Wirt, 
was a candidate for the presidency ; being placed in nomination 
by that element in the cui'rent pohtics known as the Anti-Ma- 
son,* and Mr. Chase desired his election, not from Anti-Masonic 
motives, but because he believed in Mr. Wirt's great virtues and 
great abilities. He was conscious, from the very opening of the 
canvass, however, that Mr. Wirt could not be elected, and took 
no other part than to vote for what was called the unpledged 
ticket ; that is to say, for electors pledged to vote for either 
Wirt or Clay, as either might have a majority of electoral votes 
in the nation. 

In 1836 he voted for General Harrison; not because he 
s}Tnpathized particularly with the Whig party, but because he 

' Mr. Wirt in his younger years had himself been a Mason, and his letter of ac- 
ceptance substantially repudiated anti-masonry ; a curious illustration of the incon' 
gruous political fellowship common in American politics. In the current party liter- 
ature of the canvass in 1832 wiU be found a letter of Mr. Wirt to Mr. Chase, some- 
what explanatory of his motives in accepting a nomination. Mr. Wirt received the 
electoral vote of but a single State (Vermont). 



"THE BIRNET MOB." 39 

was tlie personal friend of Hanison, {ind knew but little of Mr. 
Yan Bnren. 

In 184:0 he again voted for Harrison ; influenced at tliis 
time by decided antislavery sentiments. 

Meantime an event which largely determined Mr. Chase's 
political action, happened at Cincinnati in July, 1836, and is his- 
torically known as the " Birney mob." 

James Gr. Birney was a Southern man, a lawyer, and a slave- 
holder, who, in 1833^ emancipated his slaves, and thenceforward 
devoted his hfe and energies to the antislavery cause. In 
April, 1836, he established his newspaper, the Philanthropist, 
at Cincinnati ; but the public sentiment of the city was violent- 
ly pro-slavery, as indeed was the almost universal public senti- 
ment of the country, and his paper soon attracted attention, and 
became a definite object of popular hatred and complaint. On 
the 12th of July, at midnight, his office was entered by a mob, 
and his types and press were seriously damaged. Threats 
were made at the same time, that unless the pubhcation of the 
paper was stopped, the assault would be repeated and the office 
destroyed. Some days later, on the 21st of July, a public meet- 
ing was held by the citizens, to consider whether they " would 
permit the publication or distribution of abohtion papers in 
Cincinnati." The mayor of the city presided ; and the meeting, 
a large one, deliberately resolved that nothing less than a com- 
plete abandonment of the publication of the paper would pre- 
vent a resort to violence. This meeting further proclaimed 
that they would use all the lawful means at their command to 
suppress any newspaper advocating the modern doctrine of abo- 
lition. A committee of thirteen was appointed to wait upon 
Mr. Birney and his associates, to request an abandonment of 
the publication of their paper ; and to warn them that if they did 
not comply, the meeting would not be responsible for the conse- 
quences. On the evening of the 28th this conmaittee of citi- 
zens (which was composed of gentlemen of large wealth and 
commanding social position, headed by Judge Burnett, who had 
formerly been a United States Senator), and the executive com- 
mittee of the Ohio Antislavery Society, under whose ^spices 
the Philanthrojyist was published, held a conference. The anti- 
slavery committee proposed a public discussion; but the citi- 



40 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

zens' committee would hear of nothing less than the immediate 
discontinuance of the Phila'ivthropist, and utter silence on the 
subject of slavery. In case of refusal to comply with this de- 
mand, they predicted " a mob unusual in numbers, determined 
in its purposes, and desolating in its ravages." Judge Burnett 
expressed it as his opinion that the mob would consist of five 
thousand persons, and that two-thirds of the property-holders of 
the city would join it. The citizens' committee was then asked 
whether, if the mob could be averted, they (the committee) 
would be willing that the publication of the paper should go on. 
Several of the committee, including the chairman, promptly an- 
swered that they would not, and the antislavery committee was 
informed that it would be allowed until noon the next day to 
give a final answer touching the matter of the conference. 

At noon the next day the eight members composing the 
antislavery executive committee announced their determination 
not to comply with the insolent and lawless demand made upon 
them. 

This answer was decisive of the result which followed. 

In the evening another meeting was held by the rioters, and 
they resolved that the types and press belonging to the PMlan- 
tliropist should be thrown into the streets, and its editor noti- 
fied to leave the city within twenty-four hours. With the dark- 
ness of the night, the work of destruction began ; the office was 
entered and pillaged, the types were scattered into the streets, 
and the press thrown into the river. The mob sought Mr. Bir- 
ney ; he was absent from the city, and not finding him, they 
turned their rage upon the humble unoffending homes of the 
colored people. After several hours, near midnight, the mayor 
advised the mob to go home ; that " enough had been done, no 
more need be — to convince the abolitionists that the public 
sentiment of the city was not to be defied." 

In these events Mr. Chase had no other participation than 
that of any other citizen, seeing some part of them; but 
they filled his mind with a profound indignation, and he de- 
nounced them with the bitterness of deep feeUng. He dis- 
claimed being an abohtionist, and indeed was not one ; but he 
protested, in fearless and vigorous language, his hatred of aU 
mob- violence, and his fixed purpose to support, in every lawful 



"THE BIRNEY MOB "— THE MATILDA CASE. 4X 

way, freedom of speecli and freedom of the press. " Feeedom 
OF THE PRESS AiTD CONSTITUTIONAL LiBEBTT," lie Solemnly and 
publicly declared, " must live oe peeish togethee." !Nor in a 
f utm'e time, when the suppression of obnoxious newspapers be- 
came a matter of executive action, did he shrink from the sup- 
port of his principles on this subject. 

The circumstances of the " Bimey mob " made a deep im- 
pression upon Mr. Chase's mind, and induced him to a careful 
and thorough examination of the slave-system ; though it must 
not be inferred * from this statement that he previously had no 
decided opinions concerning it. His early training, his strong 
religious convictions, and the natural bent of his temper, were 
alike opposed to slavery ; while his observations and experiences 
at Washington, almost immediately upon his arrival, and during 
the whole of his residence there (in those days the capital was a 
prominent slave-market), had deepened his feelings into a fixed 
aversion ; but he thought it a question to be solved rather by 
social and rehgious influences than by political action. He now, 
measurably at least, changed his opinions as to the proper meth- 
ods of dealing with it. 

A few months later, and a new impulse was given to his 
thoughts. In March, 1837, he was called upon, by some anti- 
slavery men, to engage his legal aid in behaK of an alleged 
fugitive slave. 

The circumstances of the case were these : 

Matilda^ the alleged fugitive, had been a slave in Virginia, 
whose master had removed from that State to Missouri, taking 
his slaves with him. On arrival at Cincinnati, the steamboat 
on which he was traveling was fastened to the wharf or dock, 
as steamboats were usually fastened. While the boat lay there, 
Matilda went on shore, and was concealed by some colored peo- 
ple, until she found employment as a servant in the family of 
James G. Birney ; who, ignorant of her antecedents, naturally 
supposed her to be a free woman. The owner continued his 
journey to Missomi without her, but left agents behind him 

* " Since 1828," says Mr. Chase in one of h!" letters to Mr. Trowbridge, " I had 
retained a profound sense of the general wrong and evil of slaveholding. But I 
thought the denunciations of slaveholders by abolition writers as too sweeping and 
unjust, and I was not prepared for any political action agaiust slavery." 



43 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

witli instructions for her recoT»ery. She was discovered one 
morning at Mr. Birney's gate, was seized and hurried away. 

The friends of the woman, chief among whom were the 
family of Mr. Birney, were prompt to act in her behalf, insist- 
ing that as she had been brought to the steamboat-landing with 
the full consent of her master, and thus within the territorial 
jurisdiction of the State of Ohio, she could not be taken thence 
without her consent. Mr. Chase had no doubt of the correct- 
ness of this view of the law, and readily engaged to do what 
he could for her protection. 

His first step was to procure a writ of habeas corpus, under 
which she was taken from the custody of those who held her 
(by virtue of a writ issued by a justice of the peace), and 
brought before the president judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas ; but, though the Judge heard the case with courtesy and 
fairness, like almost all lawyers and judges, and indeed like 
almost all men of the time, he looked upon claims to slaves as 
more entitled to favor than claims to liberty. Mr. Chase ar- 
gued his construction of the law, now universally admitted to 
have been correct, with all the earnestness of entire conviction. 
His argmnent was founded upon this simple proposition, that 
when a slave-owner voluntarily brought his slave into a free 
State, the slave by that act became free, and could in no sense 
be called a fugitive, nor reclaimed as a fugitive under the Fed- 
eral law. But in vain. The vehement, passionate appeals of 
the counsel for the slave-claimant found an equally passionate 
response in the sympathies of both court and people ; and Ma- 
tilda was remanded into slavery. 

Mr. Chase's argument was printed and largely circulated, 
and more or less contributed to turn public attention to the 
slave-question. 

In the audience sat a young medical student, then and for 
many years thereafter unknown to Mr. Chase, who, full of sym- 
pathy for the miserable fugitive, listened with a deep attention 
to Mr. Chase's argument in her behalf. The issue of the trial 
filled him with indignation ; but he treasured up in his heart 
the noble thoughts that fell from the lips of her advocate. He 
afterward went to Europe, and pursued his medical studies in 
the schools of Paris and other cities of the Continent, and 



NORTON S. TOWNSHEND— THE BIRNEY CASE. 43 

returned with his hatred of slavery unabated but rather deep- 
ened by absence. He settled as a physician in one of the towns 
of ISTorthern Ohio, Elyria, and won reputation and success. In 
18iS he was elected to the Legislature of the State ; and was 
one of that small number who, independent of both parties, and 
willing to use either for the advancement of their principles, 
secured, through cooperation with old-hne Democrats, the re- 
peal of that code of oppressive enactments against the colored 
people known as the Mack laws, and the election of Mr. Chase 
to the United States Senate. The medical student was Dr. 
Norton S. Townshend, who as much as any other person, per- 
haps more, contributed to bring Mr. Chase into the national 
councils. 

But the ease of Matilda developed itself under another 
phase. Some pro-slavery men of Cincinnati instituted pro- 
ceedings against James G. Birney, under a statute of the State, 
for harboring a fugitive slave. The case was tried before the 
same Judge who had heard the argument for Matilda ; Mr. 
Chase now appearing as counsel for Mr. Birney. The defend- 
ant was found guilty, and fined fifty dollars. From this deci- 
sion Mr. Chase took an appeal to the Supreme Court of the 
State, and it was heard before that tribimal. There was a de- 
fect in the allegations of the indictment to which Mr. Chase 
had not invoked the attention of the Court of Common Pleas, 
and in the Supreme Court he purposely avoided directing at- 
tention to it; his anxious desire being to extort a decision 
upon the main question, whether Matilda, having been vol- 
untarily brought into the State by her master, remained a slave. 
If she was not a slave, Mr. Birney of com-se had not harbored 
a slave. 

At this time, the Supreme Court of Ohio had a rule in force 
which prohibited the publication of arguments of counsel, ex- 
cept upon special direction of the court. The report of the 
case of the State of Ohio against Birney (which will be found in 
the eighth Ohio Eeports) shows that the court reversed the de- 
cision of the Court of Common Pleas, but upon the technical 
ground to which Mr. Chase had not afeked the attention of either 
of the courts ; at the same time the court directed the publica- 
tion of his argument, though that argument did not in the 



44 .LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sliglitest degree toucli upon tlie point decided.' The trntli of 
tlie matter probably was, tbat the Supreme Court thought the 
judgment of the com*t below ought to be reversed ; and was yet 
unwilling to meet the question, but was desirous to have it 
brought to the attention of the profession and the people 
through the medium of the reports. 

* The point decided by the court wag that " an indictment for harboring and 
secreting a slave is bad without an averment that the defendant Itnew the person 
harbored to be a slave." 



CHAPTEE YIII. 



VOTES FOE HAEEISON IK 1840 — VIEWS OF POLITICAL PROBABILITIES 

ACCESSION OF JOHN" TTLEE ME. CHASe's IDEAS EESPECTING 

ANTISLAVEEY ACTION — ^ANTISLAVEET CONVENTION OF 1840 

OEGANIZATION OF THE LIBEETT PAETY IN OHIO IN 1841 ITS 

ADDEESS ME. CHASe's HOPES. 

MR. CHASE voted the Whig ticket in 1840, because he be- 
lieved, as he said, " in the sincere and elevated patriotism 
of General Harrison," though, if his wishes had been as potential 
as they were sincere, Associate- Justice John McLean, of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States, would have been opposed to 
Mr. Yan Buren. On fundamental political principles, however, 
he was more nearly in accord with the IS^orthern supporters of 
Mr. Yan Buren than with the friends of General Harrison. 
But when ]Mr. Yan Buren pledged himself to veto any act of 
Congress which might be passed for the abolition of slavery in 
the District of Columbia, and interposed against the seK-hb- 
erated prisoners of the Amistad slave-ship, he found it impos- 
sible to give his support to the Democratic candidate, l^ever- 
theless, he voted for General Harrison with many misgivings, 
though in the belief that Harrison was favorable to a general 
policy of emancipation, and would leave the question of slavery, 
so far as constitutionally within the control of Congress, to that 
disposal, without Executive interference. He thought he fore- 
saw — dimly snough, however — a succession of events somewhat 
like this : a ^Yhig President and the Whig party pro-slavery ; 
the Democratic ,party antislavery and a Democratic President, 



46 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and a restriction of slavery -within tlie bounds of States wliere 
it existed by the local law, and a divorcement of the Federal 
Government from all responsibility on account of it. 

General Harrison was elected, and soon afterward made a 
visit in Virginia to bis friends, which possibly somewhat af- 
fected his views concerning slavery. In his inaugural address 
he made a pledge, touching congressional action on slavery in 
the District of Columbia, substantially similar to that made by 
Mr. Yan Buren before the election. This pledge was all the 
more significant, because a considerable meeting of his friends 
held in Cincinnati, not long before his inauguration, had taken 
strong grounds against the continuance of slavery in the Dis- 
trict. In the call for this meeting and in its proceedings, Mr. 
Chase had taken an active part, and its resolutions expressed his 
earnest convictions. Still he did not surrender hope. 

But the death of General Harrison, and the accession of 
John Tyler, with his known and avowed views on slavery, left 
nothing to be expected from his Administration by those op- 
posed to its nationalization and domination. 

Up to this time Mr. Chase had not regarded with favor the 
formation of a separate party on the basis of antislavery ; in- 
deed, he had regarded a third-party movement somewhat with 
disfavor, as in his judgment premature. But he now became 
thoroughly con\dnced that no firm and effectual resistance to the 
slave-domination was to be expected except by the creation of a 
party founded upon the ideas — 

1. That.f outside of slave States^ slavery was prohihited hy 
the Federal Constitution^ and therefore should he restricted 
within the limits of those States whose constitutions sanctioned 
it,' and — 

2. That the slave-interest dominated the administration of 
national affairs^ and shoidd he overthrown. 

Already in 1840 a convention of antislavery men, about one 
hundred and twenty in number, and coming together from five or 
six different States, had met at Albany, and put in nomination 
candidates for President and Yice-President : James G. Birney, 
of Ohio, for the former ; and Thomas Earle, of Pennsylvania, 
for the latter office. This action did not meet the approval 
even of the whole body of the radical antislavery men of the 



LIBERTY PARTY ORGANIZED IN OHIO. 47 

time, and led to some division among tliem, and failed to com- 
mand their united support. 

Out of two million and a half votes cast at the election in 
November, 1840, Mr. Birney received less than seven thousand. 
His friends voted for him upon the general principle that it 
was wrong to vote for a slaveholder, or for any candidate who 
was not distinctly and unequivocally opposed to slavery. The 
support given to him could hardly be called poKtical ; it was 
more a moral and religious movement than otherwise, and much 
more spontaneous than organized, though doubtless it did ex- 
press a conviction that some form of organization against slavery 
had become a pohtical necessity. 

In that conviction Mr. Chase now joined. With a large 
faculty for organization, and all his life dehghting in its exer- 
cise, he turned all his great energies in the direction of combin- 
ing the antislavery elements into a single compact body for po- 
litical action, upon the basis of a constitutional opposition to the 
slave-domination. His method was to organize first in the State, 
and then throughout the nation. 

Together with some other antislavery men of Ohio, who 
agreed with him alike in conviction of the necessity, the meth- 
ods, and the basis of antislavery action, he called a State Conven- 
tion to meet at Columbus on the 29th of December, 1841. 

The convention met accordingly, and was attended by over 
two hundi'ed delegates from different parts of the State, chiefly 
farmers and artisans, some of them men of local influence, and 
in its whole constitution as respectable for intelligence and per- 
sonal worth as any similar body ever convened in Ohio. 

Mr. Chase was its most active and important member, and, 
in fact, directed its action. He was the author of its resolutions 
and address to the people, in which — fcx' the first time — the prin- 
ciples and policy of the Liberty party were distinctly stated as 
resting on recognized doctrines of constitutional construction 
and well-defined principles of national administration. 

" "We have not committed ourselves to a course of political 
action," said the address, " which separates us from the parties 
with which we have heretofore acted without reluctance and a 
struggle. Many of us have, until quite lately, indulged the idea 
that this separation was not absolutely necessary. Against hope 



48 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

■we have persevered in liope that deliverance to tlie people of 
this country from the manifold evils they sufEer in consequence 
of the ascendency of slaveholding influence, in all the depart- 
ments of our national Government, would arise from the action 
of one or the other of the political parties which now claim 
to divide the country. All such expectation, however, after 
ha^dng been repeatedly disappointed and repeatedly resumed, 
is now finally relinquished." 

After stating the several causes which, in the judgment of 
the convention, made separate action indispensable, the address 
proceeded : 

"When our fathers assumed an independent rank among 
the nations, they announced their political creed to the world in 
the most solemn manner : ' We hold these truths to he self-evi- 
dent : that all men are created equal / that they are endowed ty 
their Creator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these 
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'' In this short and 
sublime declaration they embodied the fundamental principles 
on which they proposed to establish the free government of the 
United States. 

" Their creed is oiu" creed. Their faith is our faith. All the 
objects which we seek to accomplish will be attained when the 
government which they bequeathed to us is restored to the con- 
trol of the principles which they proclaimed. 

. . . . " By the convention which framed the [Federal] Con- 
stitution, the irreconcilable opposition of slavery to freedom, 
and of slave-labor to free labor, was well understood, and the 
solemn pledge given in the Declaration of Independence was 
freshly remembered. The soil wet with the blood of freedom's 
martyrs was hardly dry, and the echoes of devout thanksgiving 
for the great triumph of American liberty yet lingered through- 
out the land. 

" It was impossible that this convention could recognize the 
principle of slavery in the frame of the national Govermnent. 
In the emphatic language of Mr. Madison, ' they thought it 
WRONG to admit in the Constitution the idea that there could be 
property in man ! Yet, as they had no power to change the 
personal relations of the inhabitants of any State to each other, 
but were charged with the duty of framing a general system of 



LIBERTY PARTY ADDRESS. 4g 

govermnent for the people of all tlie States, leaving those rela- 
tions untouched, it was equally impossible for them to abolish 
slavery in the States where it existed.' 

" Accordingly, we find that the Constitution designates all 
the inhabitants of the States as persons, and nowhere recognizes 
the idea that men can be the subjects of property ; at the same 
time it nowhere confers on Congress the right to abolish slavery 
in the States where it is recognized and sanctioned by the local 
constitutions. . . . The Constitution found slavery and left it 
a State institution — the creature and dependant of State law — 
wholly local in its existence and character. It did not make it 
a national institution. It gave it no national character ; no na- 
tional existence. 

. . . . " Why, then, fellow-citizens, are we now appealing to 
you ? Why have thousands of om* countrymen, in other States, 
ranged themselves under the banner of constitutional liberty 
against slavery ? Why is it that the whole nation is moved, as 
with a mighty wind, by the discussion of the questions involved 
in the great issue now made up between liberty and slavery ? 

" It is, fellow-citizens — and we beg you to mark this — rr is 

BECAUSE SLAVERY HAS OVEBLEAPED nS PEESCKEBED LIMITS AND 
USIJBPED THE CONTROL OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. It is 

strictly a State institution, but it has arrogated to itself a national 
character. The General Government has no control over it in 
the States ; but it has unwarrantably assumed to control in the 
administration of national affairs. 

. . . . " We ask you, fellow-citizens, to acquaint yourselves 
fully with the details and particulars belonging to the topics 
which we have briefly touched, and we do not doubt that you 
will concur with us in believing that the honor, the welfare, 
THE SAFETY OF OUR COUNTRY imperiously require the absolute 

AND UNQUALIFIED DIVORCE OF THE GOVERNMENT FROM SLAVERY. 

. . . . " We would, therefore, withdraw the support of na- 
tional legislation from the system of slavery. 

" We. would enforce the just and constitutional rule that 
slavery is the creature of local law, and cannot be extended be- 
yond the limits of the State in which it exists." 

Upon this general ground of action against slavery the con- 
vention appealed to the people of Ohio for approval and sup- 
4 



50 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

port, and declared that by its adoption " the blessings of the 
Just God, who presides over tlie destinies of nations, would be 
upon our beloved country and all her institutions." 

But the convention did not rest upon this general principle 
of slavery restriction, but insisted upon its abolition in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, and its exclusion from all places within the 
constitutional jurisdiction of the General Government. It de- 
clared, moreover, for the inviolabihty of the freedom of the 
press, of the right of trial by jmy and right of petition ; for a 
thorough reform in the cm'rency, for a rigid economy in the 
pubhc expenditures, and for the general education of the people, 
white and black. The convention nominated, as a candidate for 
Governor, Leicester King — formerly a State senator and a well- 
known and honored citizen. And finally, it strongly recom- 
mended to the friends of the movement organization in town- 
ships and counties ; and proposed a national convention prelim- 
inary to organization for national action. 

The result of the convention at Columbus was highly satis- 
factory to Mr. Chase. He believed the ground of antislavery 
action presented by it to be that warranted by constitutional 
obligation ; that upon which the mass of the people might more 
certainly and readily be brought into union ; and that method by 
which complete emancipation of the slave population would be 
ultimately secured, unattended by popular convulsion and calam- 
ity. ISTor were the labors of the convention less satisfactory to 
its own members than to the antislavery citizens of the State. 
The address and resolutions were received with great favor ; and 
although there was no apparent possibility of any political ad- 
vancement for Liberty men — for the two old parties were in 
possession of all the offices — ^yet the friends of the movement 
labored on, in the midst of great opposition and many discour- 
agements, with little to cheer, other than the satisfaction of 
duty performed and the hope of good to be accomplished, and 
some progress made. 

" Tor my own part," writes Mr. Chase to Mr. Trowbridge, 
" having resolved on my political course, 1 devoted all the time 
and means I could command to the work of spreading the prin- 
ciples and building up the organization of the party of constitu- 
tional freedom then inaugm*ated. Sometimes, indeed, all I could 



LIBERTY PARTY ADDRESS. 51 

do seemed insignificant, wliile tlie labors I liad to perform and 
tlie demands upon my very limited resources by necessary con- 
tributions taxed severely all my ability. 

. ..." It seems to me now, on looking back, tbat I could 
not belp working if I would; and tbat I was just as really 
called in tlie course of Providence to my labors for human free- 
dom, as ever any other laborer in the great field of the world 
was called to Ms appointed work." 



CHAPTEE IX. 



ME. CHASE " ATTOENEY-GENEKAL FOR RUNAWAY NEGEOES " THE 

CASE OF JOHN VAN ZANDT — ^ME. CHASe's AKGUiyiENT BEFORE 
THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES ITS CONCLUSION. 



THE reader must not suppose, from wliat precedes, that the 
case of Matilda was the only slave-defense in which Mr. 
Chase was engaged during this period of his life. He was coun- 
sel in so many that finally he came to be known in Kentucky as 
the " attorney-general for runaway negroes." But the absence 
of all invective and denunciation, and indeed of all passion, in 
his management of such cases, with his uniform calmness and 
courtesy, and his evident desire to vindicate the law, measurably 
warded from him the personal disrespect which attended known 
antislavery men ; so that when Mr. Chase went into Kentucky, 
as he sometimes did on professional business, the Kentuckians 
usually treated him with marked deference and kindness. Touch- 
ing his office as " attorney-general for runaway negroes," Mr. 
Chase protested his liking for it, because there were neither fees 
nor perquisites nor salary attending upon its duties. He never 
refused his help to any poor man, white or black. 

But it would be an utter mistake to suppose that Mr. Chase 
was not an object of hate ; for he was — of hate bitter and unre- 
lenting. It is difficult now for any one unacquainted with the 
earlier days of the slavery struggle, to form a very correct idea 
of the intense feeling which filled the minds of almost all men — 
North and South — on this subject. The popular sentiment was 
deeply and vindictively pro-slavery. It pervaded all classes and 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 53 

all professions. It colored legislation, administration, and even 
judicial decisions. It was a sort of frenzy which allowed no 
heresy in respect of its idol. 

In 1842 a slave-case surrounded by circumstances of dramatic 
interest happened in Hamilton County, Ohio, which excited a 
wide and profound attention. 

John Yan Zandt, who is the original of John Yan Trompe 
in " Uncle Tom's Cabin," was an old man ; a Kentuckian, who 
had emigrated from that State into Ohio; a member of the 
Methodist Church, uneducated but large-hearted ; a friend of 
the slaves ; w^ho by hard work and thrift had secured a small 
farm in the vicinity of Cincinnati. He was an abolitionist 
from principle and sympathy. He believed slaveholding to be 
wrong, and his kindly nature was prompt to succor the dis- 
tressed, and found especial gratification in aiding the escape of 
fugitive slaves. , 

On the nighjt of Friday, the 22d of April, nine slaves escaped 
from Kentucky into Ohio. Probably they escaped without the 
aid of other persons. But they found friends on the Ohio side 
of the river ; and the next day, when Yan Zandt was returning 
home from Cincinnati, these nine fugitives — among them a hus- 
band and wife and their three children — were found by him in 
the road. The wife was the daughter of an aged couple of black 
persons living near Cincinnati, who had once been slaves ; w^ho 
had grown old and infirm, while of their ten children not one 
was permitted to be the companion of their declining years, for 
aU were slaves in slave States. Moved by sympathy, Yan Zandt 
undertook to carry them some distance in his wagon. One of 
the slaves, Andrew, acted as driver. 

About fifteen or sixteen miles north of Cincinnati, on the 
public road and in broad daylight, two bold villains, Hargraves 
and Hefferman, with the help of some other persons of like 
character, violently stopped the travelers, and succeeded in secur- 
ing all the fugitives except two : Andrew the driver, and another, 
who escaped. One of these subsequently returned to Kentucky. 
The slaves were put into a wagon, and without authority from 
any claimant, without any knowledge to whom the alleged slaves 
belonged, or indeed any certain knowledge that they were 
slaves at all, and without resort to legal proceedings of any kind. 



54 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tliej were carried to Covington, Kentucky, and there lodged 
in jail. 

Hargraves and Hefferman and their associates received as a 
reward for this shameful business four hundred and fifty dollars ; 
but were indicted for kidnapping by the grand-jury of Wan-en 
County, where the act was committed. Hargraves and Heffer- 
man kept out of the way of trial ; but the other offenders were 
acquitted, as much by public sentiment as by the jmy. 

The owner of the slaves, Wharton Jones, sued Van Zandt 
for damages, under the Federal statute of 1T93, for harboring 
and concealing a fugitive slave. 

Mr. Chase was called upon and willingly consented to conduct 
the defense. Associated with him was Thomas Morris. The 
trial was heard before Justice McLean, of the United States 
Supreme Com't, at Cincinnati, in July, 1842. 

The defense did not deny the facts as above stated ; but the 
evidence of the plaintiff having been submitted, a motion was 
made by Mr. Morris to overrule it, upon the ground that admit- 
ting all the facts proved, they established no case of unlawful 
harboring or concealment, and no notice to the defendant that 
the alleged fugitives had escaped from Kentucky into Ohio. 
What constituted notice within the meaning of the statute was 
the point upon which both the defendant's counsel elaborately 
dwelt. Mr. Chase's argument occupied nearly three hours in 
delivery, and was listened to with a profound interest by a dense- 
ly-crowded audience. At some points it was marked by a noble 
eloquence ; and he did not hesitate to declare that his defense 
of Yan Zandt was not upon the ground simply that the generous 
old man had done no wrong, but upon the higher and better one 
that his act was warranted by Christian charity — for it seems no 
denial was made that Yan Zandt believed that the persons he 
carried in his wagon were fugitives from slavery. Mr. Chase 
sought to establish the proposition that in order to charge a citi- 
zen of Ohio with the penalties denounced by the fugitive slave 
act against harboring and concealing persons escaping from sla- 
very, there must be proof of actual notice to the person charged 
that the objects of his charity had escaped from a slave State into 
the State where he received them. The words of the fugitive 
slave act itself were express that to create a liability to penalty, 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 55 

the acts charged must be " after notice," and he contended that 
the words after notice must be taken to mean notice by the 
claimant of the fact of escape, or at least some actual notice 
given with a view to charge the person notified. Mr. Chase was 
confident- he had established his propositions, but the court over- 
ruled the motion, and the case went to the jury, and a verdict 
was rendered against Yan Zandt, and damages awarded to Whar- 
ton Jones to the amount of twelve hundred dollars. 

Mr. Chase then made a motion for a new trial, and another 
for arrest of judgment. These motions were argued together. 
The judge did not decide the motion in arrest, but in the com-se 
of his opinion upon the other motion, stated principles which 
would necessarily decide that motion in favor of the defendant* 
Mr. Chase did not press the motion in arrest further at that time, 
nor did he take the new trial. 

Besides the suit for damages, an action had been prosecuted 
against Yan Zandt to recover the penalty of ^^q hundred dol- 
lars given by the act of 1793. In this action, as in the other, 
the verdict was for Jones. Several questions which arose during 
the prosecution, and several questions which arose upon the mo- 
tion for arrest of judgment in this case, were carried to the 
Supreme Com-t of the United States for a final decision. Mr. 
Chase preferred to await the decision upon those questions before 
determining what course he should pm'sue in relation to the ver- 
dict for damages. 

At the December term, 1846, the cause was argued upon the 
certified questions, before the Supreme Com-t of the United 
States. James T. Morehead, United States Senator from Ken- 
tucky, appeared for "Wharton Jones, and Governor Seward and 
Ml*. Chase for Yan Zandt. The case was reached sooner than 
was expected by Mr. Chase (growing out of a misunderstanding), 
and at his instance a postponement was asked. The court de- 
nied it, but consented to receive written arguments if presented 
within fifteen days. This was a brief period within which to 
present such an argument in writing, but before the time expired 
it was prepared and submitted. 

In this celebrated argument — said by an eminent scholar and 
statesman to be, in his judgment, the greatest effort ever made 
before the Supreme Court — Mi'. Chase discussed these four ques- 



56 LIFE OP SALMON POETLAND CHASE. 

tions : 1. What are the requisites of notice tmder the fugitive 
slave act of 1793 ? 2. What acts constitute the offense of har- 
boring or concealing under the statute ? 3. Whether the act of 
1793 be consistent with the provisions of the Ordinance of 13th 
July, 1787 ? 4. Whether the act of 1793 be not repugnant to 
the Constitution of the United States ? 

" I beg leave to submit to your consideration," he said at 
opening, " an argument in behalf of an old man who is charged, 
under the act of Congress of February 12, 1793, with having 
concealed and harbored a fugitive slave. 

" Oppressed, and wellnigh borne down by the painful con- 
sciousness^ that the principles and positions which it will be my 
. duty to maintain, can derive no credit from the reputation of the 
advocate, I have spared no pains in gathering aroimd them what- 
ever of authority and argument the most careful research and 
the most deliberate reflection could supply. I have sought in- 
struction wherever I could find it ; I have looked into the re- 
ported decisions of almost all the State courts and of this court ; 
I have examined and compared State legislation and Federal ; 
above all, I have consulted the Constitution of the Union, and 
the history of its formation and adoption. I have done this, 
because I am well assured that the issues now presented to this 
court for solemn adjudication, reach to whatever is dear in con- 
stitutional liberty and whatever is precious in political union. 
IS'ot John Van Zandt alone, not numerous individuals only, but 
the States also, and the nation itself, must be deeply affected by 
the decision to be pronounced in this case. I ask, therefore — 
and the character of this venerable court strongly assures me 
I shall not ask in vain — for a deliberate, unprejudiced, and 
thorough examination of the several positions I shall assume, and 
of the reasonings and arguments by which they are defended. 

" I shall discuss the issue presented by the record with free- 
dom and with earnestness ; but I shall advance nothing in the 
character of a mere advocate bound to his cause only by his 
retainer. When great questions, affecting the most sacred rights 
of the people and the most delicate relations of the States and the 
most important duties of the Government, are to be presented 
before a tribunal clothed with the awful responsibihty of final 
decision, it ill becomes a lawyer, called to bear a part in the 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 57 

discussion, to strive for victory in disputation or the trinmpli 
of a side. I shall do no such violence to my own convictions of 
right and duty, as to urge here any argument or statement for 
which I am not willing to be held responsible as a citizen and a 
man. 

• • • • "If what I urge has not the sanction of reason and 
truth, let it be condemned : if it has, I trust it will prevail — I 
am sure it will ultimately prevail — whatever opinion and au- 
thority may stand in the way. Opinion and authority may stand 
for law, but do not always represent the law. There was a 
time, and a long time, when opinion and authority condemned 
as rash the doctrine that juries possess the right to determine, in 
libel-cases, not merely the question of publishing, but the general 
question of libel or no libel ; and yet the earlier advocates of the 
doctrine lived to see it established as law. So for many years 
opinion and authority sanctioned the doctrine that slaves might 
be held in England ; but after thorough investigation this doc- 
trine was overthrown, and that maxim so fraught with important 
results, established, that slavery is strictly local, and cannot be 
extended beyond the territorial limits of the State allowing it. 

" Encouraged by these recollections, and assured of the dis- 
position of the court to ascertain and declare the law, whatever 
it may be, I shall proceed to state the facts out of which the 
questions before the court have arisen." 

After a careful and exhaustive discussion of the first two 
questions proposed by him, Mr. Chase proceeded to a considera- 
tion of the third and fourth ; and from his arguments upon them 
some extracts are subjoined : 

" At the close of the Eevolutionary War," he said, " the Con- 
gress of the United States claimed the territory west of the Alle- 
ghanies, as a country conquered from Great Britain, to be held 
and disposed for the joint benefit of all the States. On the other 
hand, the same territory was claimed by several States, as belong- 
ing wholly or in part exclusively to them. 

" These conflicting claims were adjusted wholly by compro- 
mise, in the result of which the Government of the United States 
obtained undisputed possession of the region northwest of the 
Ohio, and proceeded to provide for a temporary government, 
for the organization of States, and for the permanent establish- 



58 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ment of certain great fundamental principles, as the immutable 
basis of all laws, constitutions, and governments, within the terri- 
tory. 

" The Ordinance of 1TS7 was designed to accomplish these 
interesting objects. It was almost the last work of the Congress 
of the Confederation ; that illustrious body, whose wisdom, forti- 
tude, magnanimity and devotion to freedom, attracted and stiLl 
attract the general homage of mankind ; and among all its 
splendid titles to honor and veneration, none shine brighter than 
this great act. It lies at the very foundation of the institutions 
of the free IS'orthwest ; and in aU time to come it will be, as in 
time past it has been, regarded reverently as the source and safe- 
guard of its prosperity and power. 

" The power of the Congress of the Confederation to estab- 
lish this ordinance has sometimes been drawn in question, but 
never with success. The Congress of the Confederation repre- 
sented the United States in carrying on the war with Great 
Britain, and, in that capacity, might doubtless hold all acquisi- 
tions made by conquest from the common enemy, for the general 
benefit of all the States. The country west of the Alleghanies 
was an acquisition so made. The right of the United States 
thus acquired was confirmed by the cession to the States of the 
whole vast territory northwest of the Ohio. The title thus 
acquired and thus confirmed, was held by the United States in 
trust for the benefit of the several States, subject to certain con- 
ditions in the deeds of cession. In the execution of this trust 
Congress proceeded to promulgate and establish the Ordinance 
of 1Y8Y ; and it cannot be doubted, it seems to me, that holding 
the proprietary title in the land, and complete jurisdiction over 
the territory in every respect. Congress had a perfect right to 
prescribe conditions of settlement within the territory, and estab- 
lish principles to which aU laws and constitutions established 
within it should conform ; provided only that these conditions 
and principles should not be incompatible with the great ends in 
view — the common benefit of all the States, and the creation 
and admission into the Union of new States upon equal footing 
with the original States. 

" Accordingly, the ordinance, after making various temporary 
provisions, proceeded to announce certain articles of comjyact 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 59 

between the original States and the people and States in the 
territory, and declared that they should eemaest fokever twat.- 
TEEABLE unless bj common consent. These articles established 
the inviolability of contracts, the sacredness of personal liberty, 
and the entire freedom of conscience. They recognized and 
enforced the duty of Government to foster schools and diffuse 
knowledge. They declared the navigable rivers of the territory 
to be highways and forever free to the inhabitants of the terri- 
tory and to the citizens of the United States and of any other 
States that might be afterward admitted; they enjoined the 
observance of good faith toward the Indians, and the perform- 
ance toward them of those acts of kindness and peace which 
should ever adorn the intercourse of the mighty with the weak ; 
and finally, that nothing should be omitted which might be 
thought justly to belong to an instrument providing for the 
creation of free States, they declared that 'there should be 
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude within the territory, 
otherwise than in the punishment of crimes.' 

" The great object of these provisions was explicitly declared. 
It was to ' extend the fundamental principles of ci^^l and reli- 
gious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, 
their laws and constitutions, are erected; to fix and establish 
these principles as the basis of aU laws, constitutions *and gov- 
ernments, which, forever hereafter, shall be formed in said terri- 
tory ; to provide also for the establishment of States and perma- 
nent governments therein, and for their admission to a share 
in the Federal councils, on an equal footing with the original 
States.' 

" I know not that history records a sublimer act than this. 
The United States, having just brought their perilous struggle 
for freedom and independence to a successful issue, proceeded to 
declare the terms and conditions on which their vacant territory 
might be settled and organized into States; and these terms 
were — ^not tribute, not render of service, not suborcUnation of 
any kind — but the perpetual maintenance of the genuine prin- 
ciples of American liberty ; and that these principles might be 
inviolably maintained, they were made the articles of a solemn 
covenant between the original States, then the proprietors of the 
territory and responsible for its future destiny, and the people 



60 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and tlie States who were to occupy, it. Every settler within the 
territory, by the very act of settlement, became a party to this 
compact, bound by its perpetual obligations, and entitled to the 
full benefit of its excellent provisions for himself and his pos- 
terity. 1^0 subsequent act of the original States could affect it 
without his consent. No act of his, nor of the people of the 
territory, nor of the States established within . it, could affect it 
without the consent of the original States. 

" The ordinance was not adopted upon any sudden impulse. 
It was a deliberate, well-considered act, and it received the unan- 
imous assent of the States. There was not even a single nega- 
tive from any delegate of any State, except that of one member 
from New York. 

" There can be, in my judgment, no ground whatever, for 
saying that at any tune, before the organization of State govern- 
ments within the territory, these articles of compact were in any 
respect changed. They could not be affected by the adoption of 
the Constitution of the United States, for that was the act of the 
people of the original States, to which the people of the territory 
were in no sense parties. The Constitution of the United States 
neither did, nor could, of itseK and without the consent of the 
people and States of the territory, repeal, impair, abridge or 
alter the terms of the compact. It left them, as it found them, 
in the full force of their original obligation. 

" Nor was it supposed by anybody, at the time of the adop 
tion of the Constitution, that it impaired the full effect of the 
ordinance. This is manifest from the express terms of the act 
to provide for the government of the territory northwest of the 
Ohio River, passed at the first session of the First Congress 
under the Constitution. The object of that act was declared in 
its preamble to be, ' that the Ordinance of 1Y87 may coNTmuE 
TO HAVE FULL EFFECT.' It Confirmed the temporary arrange- 
ments of the territorial government to the action of the new 
national Government. 

" Nor did the admission of the State of Kentucky into the 
Union in 1792 affect the compact ; for that was an act between 
the States, represented by Congress, and the people of Ken- 
tucky, represented by their convention, with which the people 
of the territory had no concern. 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 61 

" When tlie State of Ohio came into the Union in 1802, it 
was under the provisions of an act of Congress which contained 
an express proviso that the constitution of the new State should 
' be republican and not kepugnant to the Ordinance of 1787 
'between the original States and thepeojple and States of the ter- 
ritory.' 

" The constitution of Ohio was framed in accordance with 
these provisions. The convention of the people of the territory, 
incorporated into the constitution of the new State the leading 
principles of the ordinance ; thereby claiming for the people of 
Ohio the benefit of those provisions ; recognizing their perpet- 
ual obligation and imparting to them an additional sanction. 
The interdict against slavery was transferred to the constitu- 
tion in the very words of the ordinance ; and, as if to manifest 
as plainly as possible the sense of the people on this subject, an 
additional provision was inserted, declaring that ' no alteration 
of the constitution shall ever take place, so as to introduce sla- 
very or involuntary servitude into this State.' 

" Ohio in truth came into the Union not so much in virtue 
of any act of Congress consenting to her admission, as in vir- 
tue of a right secured to her by the ordinance, and which could 
not have been denied to her without a flagrant breach of faith. 
The ordinance itself provided for the erection of States within 
the territory ; and authorized such States to form permanent 
constitutions and State governments ; and stipulated for their 
admission, by their delegates, into the Congress of the United 
States, upon the single condition that the constitution and gov- 
ernment so to be formed should be republican, and in conform- 
ity with the principles contained in the compact. The terri- 
torial limits of Ohio were defined by the ordinance, subject to 
the right of Congress to form one or two States out of that part 
of the northwestern territory lying north of an east and west 
line through the southern bend or extreme of Lake Michigan. 
It was the right of the people within the limits thus defined, to 
form their State government and come into the Union when- 
ever the number of inhabitants should reach sixty thousand ; 
and earlier if consistent with the general interests of the Confed- 
eracy. And as it was then their right to come in under the ordi- 
nance, and as it was by that instrument made their duty to 



62 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

frame their government and constitution in accordance with tlie 
articles of compact, it seems impossible to maintain that by the 
act of entering the Union, any of those articles could be 
abridged, impaired, or- in any way modified. Certainly the evi- 
dence of intention both on the part of the people of the State 
and of the United States, that the articles of compact should 
stand unchanged, is full and complete. 

" Ohio, then, came into the Union with the ordinance in her 
right hand. Her constitution did not supersede the ordinance ; 
but on the contrary reaffirmed most of its provisions, and pro- 
mulgated them anew as ' great and essential principles of lib- 
erty and free government,' to be ' forever unalterably estab- 
lished,' for the benefit of the people of the State. And it is 
quite true that most of the principles established by the ordi- 
nance, for all time as fundamental law, are nothing else than 
the principles of natural right and justice ; the obligation of 
which, though it may be recognized and enforced by compact, is 
derived not from any agreement or consent, but from the essen- 
tial constitution of man and society. 

.... "The Government of the United States has noth- 
ing whatever to do, directly, with slavery. It may indeed, and 
does, recognize legal and political rights growing out of the 
condition of certain persons, under the laws of the States, but 
it cannot, consistently with the letter or spirit of the Constitu- 
tion, regard these persons as slaves. Under the Constitution all 
the inhabitants of the United States are, without exception, per- 
sons — persons, it may be, not free — ^persons, held to service — per- 
sons, who may migrate or be imported — ^but still, persons, clothed, 
so far as the Constitution is concerned, with those highest 
attributes of personality which belong, of right and equally, 
unless the Declaration of Independence be a fable, to all men. 
The Constitution takes notice indeed, of persons held, imder the 
laws of the States, in peculiar relations ; but it takes notice 
of such persons by its own descriptions, and by those which 
State laws furnish. It knows no slaves. 

" What is a slave ? I know no definition shorter or more 
complete than this : A slave is a person held as property, by 
legalized force, against natural right. Slavery is the condition 
in which men are thus held. The law which enables one man 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 63 

to liold his fellow-man as a slave, making the private force of 
the individual efficient for that pm'pose by aid of the public 
force of the community, must necessarily be local and munici- 
pal in its character. It cannot, speaking with strict accuracy, 
make men property, for man is not by ISTature the subject of 
ownership. It can only determine that within the sphere of its 
operation, certain of the people may be held and treated as 
property by others. It can punish resistance to the authority 
of the master, and compel submission to liis disposal. . . . 

" The law of the Creator, which invests every human being 
with an inalienable title to freedom, cannot be repealed by any 
inferior law which asserts that man is property. Such a law 
may be enforced by power ; but the exercise of the power must 
be confined within the jurisdiction of the State which estab- 
lishes the law. It cannot be enforced — it can have no opera- 
tion whatever — in any other jurisdiction. The very moment a 
slave passes beyond the jurisdiction of the State in which he is 
held as such, he ceases to be a slave ; not because any law or 
regulation of the State which he enters confers freedom upon 
him, but because he continues to be a man, and leaves hehind 
him the law of force which made him a slave. Even if the 
slave passes from one slave State into another, he is not held as 
a slave in the State to which he comes by the law of the State 
which he has left. So far as the law is concerned, he is free ; 
for he is beyond its reach. . . . 

" If I am correct, then, in the position that the Government 
of the United States cannot, under the Constitution, create, con- 
tinue, or enforce any such relation as that of owner and prop- 
erty, or what is under the slave-codes the same thing, of master 
and slave, between man and man, it must follow that no claim 
to persons as property can be maintained, under any clause of 
the Constitution, or any law of the United States. 

. . . . " The provisions of the Constitution, continued in 
the amendments, hke the provisions of the ordinance, contained 
in the articles of the compact, were mainly designed to estab- 
lish as written law certain great principles of natural right and 
justice, which exist independently of all such sanction. They 
rather announce restrictions upon legislative power imposed by 
the very nature of society and of government, than create 



64 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

restrictions whicli, were they erased from the Constitution, tlie 
Legislature would be at Kberty to' disregard, l^o Legislature is 
omnipotent. No Legislature can make right, wrong ; or wrong, 
right. iN'or is any Legislature at liberty to disregard the funda- 
mental principles of rectitude and justice. "Whether restrained 
or not by any constitutional provisions, there are acts beyond 
any legitimate or binding legislative authority. There are cer- 
tain vital principles in our national Government which will 
ascertain and overrule an apparent and flagrant abuse of legis- 
lative power. The Legislature cannot authorize injustice by 
law ; cannot nullify private contracts ; cannot abrogate the secu- 
rities of life, liberty and property, which it is the very object of 
society, as well as of our constitution of government, to provide ; 
cannot make a man judge in his own case ; cannot repeal the 
laws of ]Srature ; cannot create any obligation to do wrong or 
neglect duty. ISTo court is bound to enforce unjust law ; but, 
on the contrary, every court is bound, by prior and superior 
obligations, to abstain from enforcing such law* . . . 

" It is the maxim of the common law that he who will not 
favor liberty shall be accursed. ^ Execrandus, qui non fa/cet 
lihertati I ' The courts of England, ever presuming, in obe- 
dience to this maxim, in favor of freedom, extinguished villeinage 
and established an impregnable barrier against the introduction 
of a new slavery. May I not trust that the favor shown to' 
liberty by the courts of the chief monarchy of Europe, will not 
surpass that which liberty will receive from the courts of the 
chief republic of America ? 

• • • • " Upon questions — such as are some of those involved 
in this case — which partake largely of a moral and political 
nature, the judgment even of this court cannot be regarded as 
altogether final. The decision to be made here, must necessarily 
be rejudged at the tribunal of public opinion ; the opinion, not 
of the American people only, but of the civilized world. At 
home, as is well known, a growing disaffection to the Constitu- 
tion prevails, founded upon its supposed allowance and support 
of human slavery ; abroad, the national character suffers under 
the same reproach. I hope, and — I trust it may not be too 
serious to add — I most earnestly pray, that the judgment of the 
court in this case may commend itself to the reason and con- 



THE VAN ZANDT CASE. 65 

science of mankind ; that it may rescue the Constitution from 
the undeserved opprobrium of lending its sanction to the idea 
that there may be property in men ; that it may gather around 
that venerable charter of republican freedom the renewed affec- 
tion and confidence of a generous people ; and that it may win 
for American institutions the warm admiration and homag-e of 
all, who, everywhere, love liberty and revere justice." 

With this noble invocation Mr. Chase closed his argument. 
The judgment of the court was adverse to Yan Zandt upon all 
points. 

When the certificate of these decisions was presented in the 
Circuit Court, final judgment for the penalty was of course 
entered. 

Mr. Chase then moved in arrest of the judgment in the suit 
for damages, but the judge, pending the suit in the Supreme 
Court, had changed his position on the controlling points, and 
the decision was again adverse. Mr. Chase then proposed to 
accept the new trial upon the terms of the order already made, 
but upon this question the opinion of the court had also changed ! 
and judgment was entered against Yan Zandt for twelve hun- 
dred dollars damages, as well as the penalty in the sum of five 
hundred dollars. 

The character of Judge McLean is unquestioned, but in the 
absence of the universal pro-slavery sentiment of the times, it is 
not improbable that his decision would have been different. 

The services both of Mr. Chase and Governor Seward (who 
also submitted a written argument) in behalf of Yan Zandt were 
given without compensation. A "small sum was contributed by 
antislavery men for the actual expenses of the defense, but it 
was not sufficient even for that purpose. 

Yan Zandt suffered severely by these events. He is long 
since dead, and the final judgment has been entered in his cause 
by that awful and just Judge with whom humanity is certainly 
no crime.^ 

' Salmo7i Portland Chase to Lewis Tajypan. 

" CiNoiNNATi, March 18, 1847. 
.... u J regret the decision in the Van Zandt case, and, I confess, did not expect 
it. I had a letter from a very intelligent slaveholder, to whom I sent a copy of my 
argument, in which he was frank enough to say, that so far as he had read the 
5 



66 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

argument, I seemed to have the right of it ; ' but,' he added, ' you seem to forget 
that upon these questions necessity knows no law.' I do not know that I ever 
mentioned to you, that when I had concluded my argument for Van Zandt in the 
Circuit Court, Jones, the plaintiff, came to me, though an entire stranger to him, 
and expressed his regret that the suit had been brought, saying that he had been 
badly advised or he should not have commenced it ; so fully satisfied was he, then 
that the decision of Judge McLean must be against him. But much as I regret the 
issue of the case in the Supreme Court, I do not regret that the discussion has been 
had, and I am thankful I have had some part in it. I have received from many 
and very different political quarters, assurances of the full assent of the writers to 
the leading points of the argiunent ; and I am well satisfied that the intelligent judg- 
ment of the profession, so far as it has considered the case, is with us. 

" I am glad to see that Governor Seward's argument has been given to the public 
in the New York Tribune in a condensed form ; and it is one of the gratifications, 
and one of the greatest too, that I have derived from my connection with the case, 
that it has brought me into intercourse with that gentleman. I regard him as one 
of the very first public men of our country. Who but himself would have done 
what he did for the poor wretch Freeman ? His course in the Van Zandt case has 
been generous and noble ; but his action in the Freeman case, considering his own 
personal position and the circumstances, was magnanimous in the highest de- 
gree." • • • • 



CHAPTER X. 

STATE ELECTION, 1842 DIFFICTILTIES OF THE LIBERTY PARTY MOVE- 
MENT ^NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE LIBERTY PARTY AT 

BUFFALO IN 1843 SOUTHERN AND WESTERN LIBERTY CONVEN- 
TION AT CINCINNATI IN 1845 A GREAT AND IMPORTANT 

GATHERING THE CASE OF SAMUEL WATSON. 

THE State election in Ohio in 184:0 showed the strength of the 
antislavery vote to be nine hundred and three ; but it was 
a vote representing the unconditional abolition sentiment of the 
voters. It said briefly, and without circumlocution, conceal- 
ment, or reservation, of any kind : " Slavery must be over- 
thrown. No matter how numerous the difficulties, how formi- 
dable the obstacles, how strong the foes, to be vanquished — 
slavery must cease to pollute the land. 'No matter whether the 
event be near or remote, whether the task-master willingly or 
unwillingly relinquish his arbitrary power, whether by a peace- 
ful or a bloody process — slavery must die. No matter though, 
to effect it, every party should be torn by dissensions, every sect 
dashed into fragments, the national compact dissolved, the land 
filled with the horrors of a civil and a servile war — still, slavery 
must be buried in the grave of infamy, beyond the possibility of 
a resurrection. If the state cannot survive the antislavery agi- 
tation, then let the state perish. If the Church must be cast 
down by the struggles of humanity to be free, then let the 
Church fall, and its fragments be scattered to the four winds of 
heaven, never more to curse the earth. If the American Union 
cannot be maintained, except by unmolating human freedom on 



68 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

• 

the altar of tyranny, tlien let the American Union be consumed 
by a living thunder-bolt, and no tear be shed over its ashes. If 
the republic must be blotted out from the roll of nations, by 
proclaiming liberty to the captives, then let the rej)ublic sink 
beneath the waves of oblivion, and a shout of joy, louder than 
the voice of many waters, fill the universe at its extinction. 
Against this declaration, none but traitors and tyrants will raise 
an outcry. It is the mandate of Heaven and the voice of God. 
It has righteousness for its foundation, reason for its authority, 
^nd truth for its support." * 

Language like this, addressed to the temper of the times, 
won no support to the cause of antislavery in any form, but 
greatly increased its difficulties. The public sentiment of the 
country, passionately pro-slavery from causes impossible wholly 
to be explained, and all the more intense because of the very 
obscurity of its motives, was deepened and intensified, if that 
were possible, by the denunciations and violence of the uncon- 
ditional antislavery men. The winters and stumpers of the old 
parties made an adroit and effective use of it ; a characteristic 
use, since every antislavery man was denounced by them as an 
abolitionist, and perforce seditious, a violator ■ of the law, an 
inciter to servile insurrection and to the murder of women and 
children. Abolitionism was made a synonym, in the popular 
mind, for slave-insurrection and negro equality, equally fearful 
and abhorrent. It was alleged by public men — and doubtless 
many believed it — that abolitionism would lead to a dissolution 
of the Union. So that as every antislavery man was charged 
with being an abolitionist, and as every abolitionist was repre- 
sented to be a willful promoter of negro insurrection, negro 
equality and disunion, the Liberty party received but a scant con- 
sideration among the voters of the State. 

It is not sm-prising, therefore, that the movement did not 
attract any great accessions ; still there were some, and the vote 
for Judge King in October, 1842, was five thousand three hun- 
dred and five ; a good deal disappointing the expectations of Mr. 
Chase, who had confidently looked forward to greater results. 
His hope had been that the vote would be sufficiently large to 
attract into the Liberty organization some leading men, acting 

1 Mr. William Lloyd Garrison in The lAberty Bell, 1842. 



NATIONAL LIBERTY CONVENTION OF 1843. 69 

with tlie otlier parties, but of known antislaveiy convictions. 
Disappointed in tliis, however, he thought to make accessions by 
personal appeals to leading men in both parties. 

But he was unsuccessful. Antislavery Whigs preferred the 
Whig party organization, and antislavery Democrats preferred 
acting with the Democratic party; the Whigs professing the 
belief that the Whig party must soon take the constitutional 
antislavery ground, and Democrats professing a like belief with 
respect to the Democratic party. But neither showed much dis- 
position to sever present political connections to take part in a 
new organization whose avowed primary ground of action was 
antislavery. 

In August, 1843, a ISTational Convention of the Liberty party 
met at Buffalo, to take into consideration the expediency of nom- 
inating candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, Mr. 
Birney and Mr. Thomas Morris had already been put in nomina- 
tion by those who had voted for the former in 1840 ; but it was 
thought due to the voters who had since joined the party, that 
an opportunity should be given for reconsideration and the sub- 
stitution of other names, if that should be thought expedient. 
There were nearly a thousand delegates in attendance, from every 
free State, except New Hampshire ; but they refused either to 
postpone action upon nominations until the next year, as was 
proposed by Mr. Chase, or to make any change in candidates. 
Mr. Birney and Mr. Morris were accordingly put formally into 
nomination, almost, if not altogether, without dissent. 

The platform adopted by the convention was composed of 
resolutions ' almost all of which were drawn by Mr. Chase ; the 
most remarkable exception being the resolution declaring the 
fugitive slave law clause in the Constitution not binding in con- 
science, and therefore to be considered as mentally excepted in 
every oath taken to support that instrument. It was impossible 
for Ml'. Chase to give his sanction to this doctrine of mental 
reservation, and in the committee-room of the committee on reso- 
lutions his efforts to defeat it had been successful, but being pre- 
sented in the body of the convention — though probably a great 
majority of the members were opposed to it — it was adopted 

* It is not deemed necessary to reproduce the resolutions of the Buffalo Conven- 
tion ; they affirmed the doctrines of the Liberty party. 



70 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

under the excitement occasioned by an eloquent speecli of its 
proposer/ who began with the question — " Shall we obey the 
dead fathers or the living God ? " 

■ The presidential election took place in the following year, 
and Mr. Birney received slightly over sixty-two thousand votes ; 
a number small and insignificant when considered in the light 
merely of party interests and success, but neither small nor in- 
significant when considered in its relations to other organizations 
and party policies. In 1840 the unorganized vote against slavery 
had been only one in three hundi'ed and sixty of the whole num 
ber of votes given by the people. The vote given for the Lib- 
erty party in 1844: was one in forty. In several States, and in 
many counties and cities, it was sufficient — if given to the can- 
didates of either one of the old parties — to determine the con- 
test in their favor. This was in itself a fact of great importance 
and gave to the Liberty organization a power and influence veiy 
much in excess really of what would have been warranted by 
reason of mere numbers. It was a necessary political consequence 
that, holding the " balance of power " in many important locali- 
ties, both the old parties, wherever such a course could be adopted 
without danger of alienating their pro-slavery members, made 
advances toward the principles and measures of the new party ; 
and so long as it inflexibly maintained its organization and united 
with no party having and desiring to have a pro-slavery wing, it 
widened and deepened the currents of antislavery feeling. 

In 1845 the Southern and Western Liberty Convention was 
held at Cincinnati on the 11th and 12tt days of June. It met 
in pursuance of a call signed by Salmon P. Chase, Samuel Lewis, 
Richard B. PuUan, and others, and addressed to the " friends 
of constitutional liberty." " It is not designed," said the sign- 

* The words of the resohition referred to, which was introduced into the conven- 
tion by John Pierpont, a Unitarian clergyman of Massachusetts, were these : " Re- 
solved, That we hereby give it to be distinctly understood by this nation and the 
world, that, considering the strength of our cause to lie in its righteousness and our 
hopes for it in our conformity to tie laws of God and our support of the rights of 
man, we owe it to the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe — as a proof of our allegiance 
to Him in all our civil relations and oflBces, whether as friends, citizens or pubhc 
functionaries, sworn to support the Constitution of the United States — to regard ana 
treat the third clause of the instrument, whenever applied in the case of a fugitive 
slave, as utterly null and void, and consequently as forming no part of the Constitution 
of the United States, whenever we are called upon as sworn to support it." 



WESTERN LIBERTY CONVENTION OF 1845. 71 

ers of the call, " that this convention shall be composed, exclu- 
sively, of members of the Liberty party, but of all who, ' believ- 
ing that whatever is worth preserving in republicanism can be 
maintained only by eternal and uncompromising war against 
the criminal usurpations of the slave-power,' are resolved ' to use 
all constitutional, and honorable, and just means, to effect the 
extinction of slavery in their respective States, and its reduction 
to its constitutional limits within the United States.' " The 
whole number of persons in attendance upon this convention as 
delegates was about two thousand ; they came from Ohio, Indi- 
ana, Illinois and Michigan ; from the Territories of Wisconsin 
and Iowa ; from "Western Pennsylvania and Virginia and Ken- 
tucky. Delegations were present also from Massachusetts, 'New 
York and Rhode Island. It was the most remarkable gathering 
of antislavery men that, up to the time of its meeting, had been 
convened in the country. Its sittings were continued through 
two days, and its proceedings were distinguished for the dignity 
and solemnity which befitted the occasion and its objects. Mr. 
Chase took an active part, and was the author of its " Address 
to the People of the United States;" a characteristic paper, 
clear, temperate and judicial. More than a hundred thousand 
copies were circulated in pamphlet form ; it was reproduced in 
antislavery newspapers, and freely commented upon by the press 
of the Democratic and Whig parties. Its effect upon the public 
mind, in conjunction with current political events, was wide- 
spread and important. 

" The Liberty party," said this address, " founds itself upon 
the great cardinal principles of true democracy and of time 
Christianity, the brotherhood of the human family. It avows 
its purpose to wage implacable war against slaveholding as the 
direst form of oppression, and then against every other species 
of tyranny and injustice. Its members agree to regard the ex- 
tinction of slavery as the most important end which can, at this 
time, be proposed to political action ; and they agree to differ as 
to other questions of minor importance. . . ." 

The rise of such a party as this, the address alleged, met the 
" want which enlightened lovers of hberty felt, of a real demo- 
cratic party in the country — democratic not in name only, but 
in deed and in truth. In this want, the Liberty party had its 



73 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CFASE. 

origin, and so long as this want remains otherwise unsatisfied, 
the Liberty party must exist ; not as a mere abolition party, but 
as a tmly democratic party,* which aims at the extinction of 
slavery, because slaveholding is inconsistent with democratic 
principles; aims at it, not as an ultimate end, but as the most 
important present object ; as a great and necessary step in the 
work of reform ; as an illustrious era in the advancement of 
society, to be wrought out by its action and instrumentality. The 
Liberty party of 1845 is, in truth, the Liberty party of 17Y6 re- 

' Mr. Cbase, in this address, in some paragraphs not quoted above, charged an 
equal devotion to the slave-interest upon both the Whig and Democratic parties. 
Mr. Seward, in a letter to Mr. Chase, dated at Auburn, August 4, 1845, protests 
against this as unjust. " I have no sympathy," he said, " with the Whig party (though 
I own I love it much) in any feehngs of passion it may indulge on account of the 
exposure of its lukewarmness on the subject of slavery. I love the Whig party, 
but I love it only as the agency through which to promote the good of the country 
and of mankind." He said he did not apply the name Democratic to the other 
party, because he could not admit such a misnomer, regarding it as the slavery party. 
".There can be," he contmued, "but two permanent parties. The one will be and 
must be the Locofoco party. And that always was, and is, and must be, the slavery 
party. Its antagonist of course must be, always, as it always was and is, an anti- 
slavery PARTY, more or less. Whether more or less at one time or another, depends 
of course on the advancement of the public mind and the Lntentness with which it 
can be fixed on the question of slavery. Nor will the character of that antagonist 
party be greatly changed by any change of organization or name. Strike down the 
Whig party and raise the Liberty party in its place — if it be possible — and the Lib- 
erty party, composed of the same elements, will be only the Whig party as it would 
have been if left to maintain its original position. I see nothing but loss of time and 
strength in the attempt at substitution, if successful : although I can see that the 
action of the third party for a while might tend to stimulate the Whig party to a 
greater zeal. The Liberty party I do not think will succeed in displacing the Whig 
[party] and giving a new name to the same mass (and I repeat, the mass of the 
opposition will always be the same under any name). You think otherwise. So let 
it be. We must diflfer imtil time shows which was right. Meantime, I am for eman- 
cipation and against slavery, whether my party go with me and live, or go against it 
and fall. Where can I do the most good ? Manifestly with my own party, whose 
fortunes I share ; and the more perseveringly when those fortunes are adverse from 
errors not my own. To abandon a party and friends to whom I owe so much, whose 
confidence I do in some degree possess, and who, as far as I am known to them, 
have steadily advanced to every position I have ever taken in regard to slavery, would 
be criminal, and not more criminal than . imwise. I could not speak to them with 
any claim on their consideration, while I should be but one man in the opposing or 
rival party which was seeking their overthrow. If you be right, the hberty cause 
will find me just where I am, faithful to that cause whoever leads the battle, or un- 
der whatever banner. If / be right, it is just the same." 



ADDRESS OF WESTERN LIBERTY CONTENTION. 73 

vived. It is more : it is tlie party of advancement and freedom, 
which has — in every age and with varying success — fought the 
battles of human liberty against the party of false conserva- 
tism and slavery. . . . 

" We ask all true friends of liberty, of impartial, universal 
liberty, to be firm and steadfast. The little handful of voters 
who, in 18i0, wearied of compromising expediency, and despair- 
ing of antislavery action by pro-slavery parties, raised anew the 
standard of the Declaration " (of Independence), " and manfully 
resolved to vote right then and vote for freedom, has already 
swelled to a great paett, strong enough, numerically, to decide 
the issue of any national contest, and stronger far in the power 
of its pure and elevating principles. And if these principles be 
sound, which we doubt not, and if the slavery question be, as 
we verily believe it is, the great question of our day and na- 
tion, it is a libel upon the intelligence, the patriotism and the 
virtue of the American people, to say that there is no hope that 
a majority will not array themselves under our banner. Let it 
not be said that we are factious or impracticable. We adhere 
to our views because we believe them to be sound, practical, and 
vitally important. We have already said that we are ready to 
prove our devotion to om* principles by cooperation with either 
of the two great American parties which will openly and hon- 
estly, in State and national conventions, avow our doctrines and 
adopt our measures, until slavery shall be overthrown. We do 
not, indeed, expect any such adoption and avowal by either of 
those parties, because we are well aware that they fear more, at 
present, from the loss of slaveholding support than from the 
loss of antislavery cooperation. But we can be satisfied with 
nothing less, for we will compromise no longer ; and, therefore, 
must of necessity maintain our separate organization as the true 
Democratic party of the country, and trust our cause to the suf- 
frages of the people and the blessing of God ! 

" Carry then, friends of freedom and free labor, your prin- 
ciples to the ballot-box. Let no difficulties discourage, no dan- 
gers daunt, no delays dishearten you. Your solemn vow that 
slavery must perish is registered in heaven. Renew that vow! 
Think of the martyrs of truth and freedom ; think of the mill- 
ions of the enslaved; think of the other millions of the op- 



74 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

pressed and degraded free ; and renew tliat vow ! Be not 
tempted from the path of political duty. To compromise for 
any partial or temporary advantage, is ruin to our cause. Un- 
swerving fidelity to our principles; unalterable determination 
to carry those principles to the ballot-box at every election ; in- 
flexible and unanimous support of those, and only those, who 
are true to our principles, are the conditions of our ultimate tri- 
mnph. Let these conditions be fulfilled and our triumph is cer- 
tain. The indications of its coming multiply on every side. A 
spirit of inquiry and of action is awakened everywhere. The 
assemblage of this convention, whose voice we utter, is itseK an 
auspicious omen. Gathered from the ]S"orth and the South and 
from the East and the "West, we here unite our counsels and 
consolidate our action. We are resolved to go forward, know- 
ing that our cause is just, trusting in God. . . . He can, and 
we trust He will, make our instrmnentality efficient for the 
redemption of our land from slavery, and for the fulfillment of 
our fathers' pledge in behalf of freedom, before Him and be- 
fore the world." 

It is somewhat remarkable that, although the annexation of 
Texas had been determined upon by Congress in the spring of 
1845, no other notice of the introduction of that weighty ele- 
ment into the antislavery struggle appeared in this address, than 
these few words : " It " (slavery) " has dictated the acquisition of 
an immense foreign territory, not for the laudable pui-pose of 
extending the blessings of freedom, but with the bad design of 
diffusing the curse of slavery, and thereby consoHdating and 
pei'petuating its own ascendency." 

Meantime, a slave-case occurred at Cincinnati which attracted 
a general attention. On the morning of the 21st of January, 
1845, one Hoppess, having in charge a colored man named Sam- 
uel Watson, arrived at Cincinnati on the steamer Ohio Belle. 
Not long after the boat was made fast to the shore, Watson was 
missing. In the evening he was found by Hoppess upon the 
landing, not attempting and probably not thinking of escape. 
He was seized and lodged in the " watch-house," and on the 
following morning was taken before a magistrate in order to 
obtain a certificate for his removal as a fugitive from service, 
under the Federal Act of 1T93. 



THE WATSON CASE. 75 

At this point in the case a writ of habeas corpus was issued 
by a jndge of the Supreme Court of the State, in obedience 
to which "Watson was brought before him, and Hoppess was 
required to justify the detention. To this purpose Hoppess 
alleged that Watson was a slave in Virginia, whose master 
had taken him thence to Arkansas. The master had returned 
to Virginia and had died there, after having sold Watson to 
Floyd ; that as the agent of Floyd he (Hoppess) had gone to 
Arkansas, obtained possession of Watson, and was returning 
with him to Virginia, when, the boat having arrived at Cincin- 
nati very early in the morning, Watson escaped. The proof 
showed that at the time of the alleged escape the boat was made 
fast to the Ohio shore and inside of low-water mark ; that at 
the time he was seized on the landing he was making no at- 
tempt to escape, and that those who first noticed the boat on the 
morning of her arrival neither observed any indications, nor 
heard any suggestion, of an escape having taken place. 

Mr. Chase,' as, counsel for Watson, insisted — 1. That there 
had been no escape ; 2. That the escape, if there was one, was 
from one place in Ohio to another place in the same State, and 
so not within the constitutional provision as to escaping ser- 
vants, nor the provisions of the act of 1793 ; 3. That the boat, 
at the time of the escape, was within the State of Ohio, being 
fastened to the Ohio shore and within low-water mark ; to 
which line, by consent of all, the territory of the State extends ; 
and beyond this line, it was insisted, to the middle of the river ; 
4. That the holding of persons as slaves in Arkansas was repug- 
nant to the treaty with France, which provided for the admis- 
sion of all the inhabitants of the territory to the immunities of 
citizens of the United States ; and also to the fifth amendment 
to the Constitution, which declares that no person shall be de- 
prived of liberty without due process of law, and applies, at 
least, to all national Territories and States created out of such 
territories ; and that Watson, having been taken by his alleged 
master from Virginia to Arkansas, was free there, and could 

' Associated with him were Messrs. Bimey and Johnson ; and the judge of the 
Supreme Court before whom the case was tried was Honorable N. C. Eead, who had 
been the opposing counsel to Mr. Chase in the Matilda case and in the case also of , 
the State against James G. Birney. 



76 • LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

not be reclaimed ; 5. That tlie act of 1793, relating to fugitives 
from service, was miconstitutional ; that no power was con- 
ferred by the Constitution upon Congress to legislate on the 
subject ; and if there was, yet the provisions of this act, author- 
izing seizure without warrant, trial without jury and without 
opportunity to the defendant to cross-examine witnesses against 
him, and judgment by a State magistrate irresponsible in the 
exercise of this authority to the State or the United States, and 
compensated only according to his own bargain with the plain- 
tiff, were clearly unconstitutional ; and 6. That the Ordinance of 
1Y8T confined the right of reclaiming escaping servants, as to 
the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio Eiver 
and as to the States erected out of it, to cases of escape from 
the original States ; and that Watson, not having escaped from 
an original State, could not, therefore, be reclaimed as a fugi- 
tive from service. 

These considerations failed to influence the court to their 
whole extent; the judge holding that slavery might exist in 
Arkansas ; that the treaty with France was for the cession of 
territory and allegiance, and did not change the relations of per- 
sons nor the rights of property. He also held that a slave 
escaping to Ohio from a new State was subject to recaption pre- 
cisely as though the escape had been from one of the original 
States. He sustained the constitutionality of the Federal act 
authorizing summary process against escaping servants; and 
upon the leading point in the case, respecting the jurisdiction on 
the Ohio Eiver, the court — although laying down the principle 
that slavery was strictly local — still held that a master navigating 
the Ohio River, while upon the water was within the jurisdic- 
tion of Yirginia or Kentucky for the pui-pose of retaining the 
right to his slave ; and that, although the boat which contained 
them should be fastened to the shore of a free State, yet a slave 
going at large would be liable to recaption as a fugitive from 
one State into another — this being an incident to the common 
right of navigation, secured at an early day to the people of the 
States bordering upon the Ohio Kiver. But although the effect 
of this opinion was to remand Watson into slavery, the court 
emphatically recognized the strictly local character of the institu- 
tion ; upon this point coming f uUy up to the doctrine set up by 



THE WATSON CASE. . 77 

Mr. Cliase in ttie Matilda case in 1837, and in tlie case also of 
the State of Ohio against Bimej. " Slavery," said the court, 
" is wrong inflicted by force and supported alone by the munici- 
pal power of the State or Territory in which it exists. It is 
opposed to the principles of natural justice and right and is the 
mere creature of positive law. If a master bring his slave into 
the State of Ohio he loses all power over him. If the master 
take his slave beyond the influence of the laws which create the 
relation, it fails ; there is nothing to support it, and they stand 
as man and man. The slave is free by the laws of the State to 
which he has been brought by the master, and there is no law 
authorizing the master to force him back to the State which 
recognizes the relation of master and slave. At one time I was 
of opinion that he had the right of passage through a free State 
with his slave. This would probably harmonize with the spirit 
of the compromise upon this subject. But upon more careful 
examination, I am satisfied the master must lose his slave if he 
brings him into a free State, unless the slave voluntarily returns 
to a state of slavery ; because the master loses all power over 
the slave by the law of the State to which he has brought 
hun, and there is no other law authorizing the master to 
remove him. The Constitution of the United States only 
recognizes the right of recapture of a fugitive held to service 
in one State escajying into another. The person owing service 
must escape from the State where such service is owed iuto 
another State. The act of Congress carrying into effect the 
constitutional provision, authorizes a recaption only where there 
has been an escape from the State where the service was owed 
into another State. If there has been no such escape, the mas- 
ter has no right of recaption, and the slave may go where he 
pleases ; the master has lost all control over him." 

" This opinion of Judge Head," remarks the writer of the 
pamphlet from which this account of Watson's case is extracted, 
" shows that his transition from his former to his present opinion, 
might be characterized as ^ogress. The popular sympathy for 
a slave claiming his liberty, and the evident impression made 
upon pubhc sentiment by the considerations urged iu his behalf, 
were indications no less significant of ' progi'ess.' " * 

* Pending this case of Watson Mr. Polk, the recently-elected President, passed 



78 • LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

After tlie result of the case was known, it was determined at 
a meeting of the colored people of Cincinnati, that an appropri- 
ate mark of grateful respect should be tendered to each of the 
counsel for "Watson, who had all declined compensation for their 
professional services. The testimonial to Mr. Chase was a silver 
pitcher, copied from a fine antique model, with little ornament 
beyond the slight chasing of the borders and handle. It bore 
this inscription : 

A 
TESTIMONIAL OF GEATITUDE 
TO 

SALMON P. CHASE 

FBOM 
THE OaLOEED PEOPLE OF OrSTCLNNATI, 

FOR HI8 

VAEIOUS PUBLIC SEEVIOES IN BEHALF OF THE OPPEESSED 

AND PAETIOUXAKLY FOE mS 

ELOQUENT ADVOCACY OF THE EIGHTS OF MAN 

IN THE CASE OF SAMUEL WATSON, 

WHO WAS CLAIMED AS A FUGITIVE SLAVE, 

FEBRUAET 12, 1845. 

In accepting this testunonial Mr. Chase said, in reply to the 
presentation address, that he was content to be counted one of 
the rank and file in the contest for universal freedom. " I can 
only take credit," he continued, " if I take credit at aU, for not 
being unwiUing to learn and to do. ISTor in what I have done 
can I claim to have acted from any peculiar consideration of the 
colored people as a separate and distinct class in the commu- 
nity ; but from the simple consideration that all the individuals 
of that class are members of the community, and in virtue of 
their manhood are entitled to every original right enjoyed by 
any other member.' I am only one of a great number, who 
adopt the opinion that in a country of democratic institutions, 
there is no reliable security for the rights of any unless the 
rights of all are, also, secure. In a monarchy or an aristocracy, 
the rights, or rather privileges, of a class may be created by 

through Cincinnati, and was welcomed by Judge Read, who was a prominent mem- 
ber of the Democratic party. 



EARLY VIEWS ON UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. 79 

law and secured by law. But in a democracy, wMcli recognizes 
no classes and no privileges, every man must be protected in his 
just rights, or no man can be, by law. The moment the law 
excludes a portion of the community from its equal regard, it 
divides the community into higher and lower classes, and intro- 
duces all the evils of the aristocratic principle. Henceforth in 
that community, rights, in the proper sense of that word, cease 
to exist. Instead of rights, there are privileges for the higher 
classes, and restrictions for the inferior. We feel*, therefore, 
that all legal distinctions between individuals of the same com- 
munity, founded on any circumstances of color, origin and the 
like, are hostile to the genius of our institutions and incompatible 
with the true theory of American liberty. God forbid that we 
shall fail to sympathize truly and deeply with the poor, the 
destitute, the oppressed, the enslaved colored people of our 
land ; or to exert ourselves strenuously in their behalf ; but let 
us not take to ourselves too much credit for sympathy or effort, 
since our own rights as well as theirs are involved in the struggle 
in which we are engaged, and every day's experience adds fresh 
strength to the conviction that slaveiy and oppression must cease, 
or American liberty must perish." Mr. Chase further said, in 
the course of his remarks, that he " emhraced with pleasure the 
opj)ortunity of declaring his disapprobation of that clause of the 
constitution of the State which denied to a portion of the colored 
people the right of suffrage. . . . True democraxiy^'' he alleged, 
" makes no inquiry about the color of the shin, or the place of 
nativity, or any other similar circumstance of condition. Wher- 
ever it sees a man, it recognizes a being endowed by his Creator 
with original inalienable rights. In communities of men, it 
recognizes no distinctions founded on mere arbitrary will. I 
regard, therefore, the exclusion of the colored people as a body 
from the elective franchise as incompatible with true democratic 
principles.''^ 

Ten years afterward, when Mr. Chase was a candidate for 
Governor of Ohio, his declaration for universal suffrage made 
on the occasion of this presentation was used as a potent elec- 
tioneering argument against him; but he neither denied nor 
qualified his expressions on the subject. More than this — he 
reiterated his adherence to his avowed principles, and said that 



80 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

he " more valued the gratitude of an oppressed people than he 
did any office, even that of Governor of Ohio." 

It ought to be observed here, that in conformity with his 
views touching the radical injustice of the State laws discrimi- 
nating against the colored people, Mr. Chase, in his local politi- 
cal efforts, sought, as a prunary object, the repeal of those laws. 



CHAPTEE XI. 

ANNEXATION OF TEXAS BIIFFALO NATIONAL LIBERTT CONVENTION 

OF 1847 — STATE CONVENTION AT COLUIVIBUS, 1848 — DEMO- 

CKATIC AND WHIG NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF THAT TEAR 

CONVENTION OF BARNBIIKNEE DEMOCRATS OF NEW TOEK 

FKEE-SOrL NATIONAL CONVENTION AT BUFFALO IN AUGUST 

NOMINATION OF MARTIN VAN BUREN AND CHARLES FRANCIS 
ADAMS PLATFORM GENERAL RESULTS. 

T H K annexation of Texas and the war witli Mexico, had 
given a powerful impulse to the antislavery sentiment of 
the North. The Whigs, out of office and in natural antagonism 
to every measure of a Democratic Administration, and perfectly 
informed, at the same time, that there could be no permanent 
alliance between themselves and the slave-interest — had become 
widely and deeply affected with antislavery sentiments, and 
great inroads had been made also among ITorthern Democrats. 
The end of the war, and the acquisition of vast territories under 
the treaty with Mexico — called of Guadalupe Hidalgo — ^made 
in February, 1848, introduced into national politics new ele- 
ments. Whether the recently-acquired territories should be 
given up to slavery, or made free, became a topic of very 
earnest discussion, and the pubhc temper in the ITorth seemed 
to warrant the belief that one or the other of the great parties 
would be compelled to take ground in favor of freedom. 

The National Convention of the Liberty men was held at 
Buffalo in the fall of 184Y, and in this convention Mr. Chase had 
participated as a delegate ; but under the full conviction that 
6 



82 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tlie ensuing six or eight months would materially change the 
aspect of political affairs, he had opposed the nomination of can- 
didates. The convention did not share his views, and nomi- 
nated John P. Hale for the first office. It was proposed to put 
Mr. Chase's name upon the ticket for the second, but he per- 
emptorily declined, and Leicester King was selected. 

Mr. Chase, however, did not feel irrevocably bound by this 
action ; and looked forward with hope that one of the great par- 
ties would place itself squarely upon a platform of slavery ex- 
clusion ; or, at least, nominate a statesman so committed to that 
policy as to warrant those in voting for him who believed exclu- 
sion to be of paramount importance. 

In order to be prepared for that event, and at the same time 
prepared also for independent action — either in supporting the 
nominees of the Liberty party, or of a new organization, if that 
should be deemed wiser and better — he obtained the coopera- 
tion of some friends in procuring signatures to a call for a Peo- 
ple's Convention to be held at Columbus on the 21st of June, 
1848, being the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill. This 
call was signed by more than three thousand citizens of the 
State, including men of all parties — ^Whigs, Liberty men and 
Democrats, with a preponderance of the latter. " A great crisis 
is at hand," was the language of this paper. " The war with 
Mexico must result — if, before you read this call, it shall not 
already have resulted — in the acquisition of extensive territories 
by the United States. These territories are now free territories ; 
but it is demanded by the slave-power that they shall be, by 
the national Government, made slave territories ; that the trade 
in living men and women shall be permitted in them by the 
national authority; that free labor and free laborers shall be 
virtually excluded from them by being subjected to degrading 
competition with slave-labor and slave-laborers ; and finally that 
they may be erected into slave States, with slave representations 
in Congress and the electoral colleges. It is strange, but un- 
happily true, that prominent men in each of the two great par- 
ties of the country have been found ready to submit to this 
demand. Mighty efforts are now made to force upon both 
these parties nominations, for President and Yice-President, of 
candidates who will favor, either by active cooperation or silent 



POLITICAL ACTION IN 1848. 83 

connivance, tlie designs of the slave-power. These efforts will 
be successful, unless the friends of freedom arouse themselves 
and act in concert. They may be successful, notwithstanding 
such action. If so, nothing will remain for true patriots but 
acquiescence in the demand, or a noble struggle for victory. It 
becomes us to be prepared for every event. Should the conven- 
tions of the "Whig and Democratic parties nominate candidates 
worthy of the confidence of non-slaveholding freemen, we shall 
greatly rejoice ; if not, we must act as befits men determined to 
resist by aU constitutional means, the extension of slavery into 
the territories hereafter acquired. We ask no man to leave his 
party or surrender his party views. This call is signed indis- 
criminately by Democrats, "Whigs and Liberty men. But we do 
ask every man who loves his country, to be ready, if need be, 
to suspend for a time ordinary party contentions and unite in 
one manful, earnest and victorious effort for the holy cause of 
freedom and free labor. . . . "We therefore invite the electors 
of Ohio, friends of freedom, free territory and free labor, with- 
out distinction of party to meet in mass convention for the pur- 
pose of considering the political condition of our country, and 
taking such action as the exigency may require : And may God 
defend the right ! " 

Pending the circulation of this call, the national conventions 
of the two old parties were held ; that of the Democrats at Bal- 
timore on the 22d of May, and the "Whig Convention at Phila- 
delphia on the Yth of Jmie. Both were more or less controlled 
by the slave-interest. In the Democratic Convention no attempt 
was made to secure any declaration against slavery or its exten- 
sion, but the opposition to the slave-domination found expres- 
sion in an effort to secure admission into the convention of the 
Radical or Barnburner delegation from New York, the members 
of which were avowedly in favor of the exclusion of slavery from 
the Temtories. The convention proposed to admit both the 
Barnbm-ner and " Hunker " or Conservative delegations, giving 
to each one-half the vote to which the State was entitled, but the 
Barnburners declined to accede to this proposition, and returned 
to their constituents to give an account of their mission. The 
convention nominated General Cass for President and General 
"WiUiam O. Butler for Yice-President. 



84 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

The "WTiig Convention nominated General Taylor for tlie first 
and Millard Fillmore for the second place on their ticket. " ISTo 
resolves affirming any distinctive principles were adopted, and 
repeated efforts to secure some antislaveiy expression by inter- 
posing a resolution affirming the Wihnot Proviso, were met by 
successful motions to lay the resolution on the table. The nom- 
ination of a Southern slaveholder for the presidency, whose 
military glory was the fruit of the Mexican War, was satisfactory 
to the South — ^but at the beginning of the canvass was extreme- 
ly distasteful to many Northern Whigs, who, however, afterward 
went to his support. 

This was the condition of political affairs, when the Peopled 
State Convention, called to meet on the 21st of June at Colum- 
bus, met pursuant to the call. The IS^ew York Democrats — the 
Barnburners — met in State Convention on the same day, to de- 
tennine what com'se, in the existing circumstances, should be pur- 
sued by the l^ew York Democracy. The New York Convention 
passed a resolution authorizing the delegates to the Baltimore 
Convention to attend and take part in any convention of the 
free States which might be called for the purpose of collecting 
and concentrating the popular will in relation to the presidency, 
and nominated Mr. Yan Buren as their candidate. 

The Ohio Convention was a large and harmonious body. 
Mr. Chase, anxious to avoid all action which might be inter- 
preted as evincing a wish on the part of Liberty men to take the 
lead in the new political organization likely to be formed, drew 
the address and resolutions of the convention, but placed them 
in other hands and committed their advocacy to other tongues. 
He wished to take no risks of possible prejudice on the part of 
members of the old parties participating in the convention, and 
was therefore willing that the credit of whatever might be done 
should accrue to others. 

The convention took the course he anticipated and wished. 
It declared the nominations of the old parties unfit to be sup- 
ported ; passed resolutions in favor of freedom for the Territo- 
ries, and recommended a national convention at Buffalo on the 
9th of August next following, to consist of six delegates at large 
from any State choosing to be represented, and three from each 
congressional district. 



THE BUFFALO CONVENTION OF 1848. 85 

A national convention of " Free-Soilers " — as they were called 
who favored slavery exclusion — ^met at Buffalo, accordingly, on 
the 9th of August. The New York Radical delegation, appointed 
originally to attend the Democratic National Convention at Bal- 
timore, took theu' seats as members. The attendance upon this 
gathering at Buffalo was surprisingly great. Besides the regular 
convention, which consisted of four hundi-ed and sixty-five dele- 
gates representing eighteen States, there was a mass convention 
which numbered many thousand persons. Mr. Chase was chosen 
to preside over the former, and Mr. Charles Francis Adams over 
the latter. There was entire harmony among the delegates, and 
a great enthusiasm among the people. The nomination of Mr; 
Yan Bm-en as their candidate for the presidency, unanimously 
made by the former, was ratified by the latter, assembled in mass 
convention, with enthusiastic demonstrations of approval. The 
nomination of Mr. Adams for the second place was equally sat- 
isfactory, although many of the delegates from the West pre- 
ferred a Western man, and no doubt would have united upon 
Mr. Chase had he permitted the use of his name, which he de- 
clined to do. 

The resolutions which formed the declaration of principles 
proposed by the convention to the people, were almost wholly 
drawn by Mr. Chase. They were carefully considered in com- 
mittee and earnestly discussed before they received its sanction. 
When reported to the convention by the chairman of the com- 
mittee on resolutions, Mr. Butler, of New York, they were 
adopted by a unanimous vote. 

In these resolutions there was nothing Delphic; they ex- 
pressed the precise views of their author and of the convention ; 
they declared : " That the proviso of Jefferson, to prohibit the 
existence of slavery after the year 1800 in all the Territories of 
the United States, Northern and Southern ; the votes of six States 
and sixteen delegates in the Congress of 1784 for that proviso, 
to three States and seven delegates against it ; the actual exclu- 
sion of slavery from the Northwestern Territory by the Ordi- 
nance of 1787, unanimously adopted by the States in Congress ; 
and the entire history of that period, clearly show that it was 
the settled poHcy of the nation, not to extend, nationalize or en- 
courage, but to limit, localize and discourage slavery ; and to 



86 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

this policy, whicli sliould never liave been departed from, tlie 
Government ought to return; that our fathers ordained the 
Constitution of the United States in order, among other great 
national objects, to establish justice, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty ; but expressly denied to the 
Federal Government, which they created, all constitutional power 
to deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due 
legal process ; that in the judgment of this convention, Congress 
has no more power to make a slave than to make a king ; no 
more power to institute or establish slavery than to institute or 
establish a monarchy ; no such power can be found among those 
specifically conferred by the Constitution or derived by just im- 
plication from them ; that it is the duty of the Federal Govern- 
ment to relieve itself from all responsibility for the existence or 
continuance of slavery wherever that Government possesses con- 
stitutional authority to legislate on that subject, and is thus 
responsible for its existence ; that the true and, in the judg- 
ment of this convention, the only safe means of preventing the 
extension of slavery into territory now free, is to prohibit its 
existence in all such territory by act of Congi'ess ; that we accept 
the issue which the slave-power has forced upon us, and to their 
demand for more slave States and more slave territory, our calm 
but final answer is — ' l^o more slave States and no more slave 
teiTitory.' Let the soil of our extensive domains be ever kept 
free for the hardy pioneers of our own land, and the oppressed 
^nd banished of other lands, seeking homes of comfort and fields 
of entei'prise in the Kew World ; that we demand freedom and 
established institutions for our brethren in Oregon, now exposed 
to hardships, peril and massacre, by the reckless hostility of the 
slave-power to the establishment of free government for free 
Territories, and not only for them, but for our new brethi'en in 
California and New Mexico." ^ 

So ended the work of this great convention. Its large num- 
bers, and the high respectability and influence of its member- 

^ The convention resolved, also, for cheap postage ; retrenched Federal expendi- 
tures ; the abolition of all unnecessary offices and salaries ; the election of all civil 
officers by the people, so far as practicable ; river and harbor improvements ; the 
grant of public lands to actual settlers ; a tariff of duties for revenue adequate to 
defray the necessary expenses of the Federal Government, and to pay annual install- 
ments of the pubUc debt and the interest thereon. 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1848. 87 

ship and following, liad a profound effect upon the leaders of 
tlie old parties, and upon tlie people ; and to its assembling and 
action has been attributed, and no doubt justly, the passage of 
the bill organizing the Territory of Oregon with the prohibition 
of slavery, which was then pending in the Senate of the United 
States. 

The election which followed, as all the world knows, resulted 
in the choice of General Taylor : 2,872,000 votes were cast, by 
the people, and of these Mr. Yan Buren had 291,342, being 
one-ninth — ^nearly one-eighth — of the whole number. 

The election showed the power of principles and the power 
of party. Except in Ohio and Massachusetts, the Whigs almost 
everywhere supported the nominations of the Philadelphia Con- 
vention, and except in 'New York the Democrats almost every- 
where supported General Cass. In New York the recognized 
organization of the Democratic party was in the hands of the 
friends of Mr. Yan Buren, and he received in that State 120,000 
votes. In Massachusetts, and in the northern counties of Ohio, 
where the Whigs were in the ascendant, the profound antislavery 
convictions of great numbers of the people made it impossible 
for them to support national candidates who had made no dec- 
larations against the extension of slavery, and Mr. Yan Buren 
had in Massachusetts 38,000 and in Ohio 35,500 votes. The 
consequence of all was, that General Taylor carried New 
York, and General Cass carried Ohio and all the States north- 
west of the Ohio River, by reason of the defection of Whig 
votes. A further and more important consequence of the com- 
j)lications of the canvass, was the damage and demoralization it 
wrought in both the old parties. Though the Whigs emerged 
from it enjoying a nominal victory, the Whig party was too ex- 
tensively disorganized to make use of its fruits, either for the 
consolidation of its own power or for the good of the country. 

The Democratic party in the ISTorth was similarly affected, 
but in far less degree. Immediately after the election, how- 
ever — claiming that under the doctrines maintained by General 
Cass, slavery, though not prohibited by law, could find no in- 
gress into the Territories — ^the great body of the Democrats 
passed by an easy transition into a profession of the doctrines 
entertained by the " Independent Democracy " which had sup- 



88 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ported Mr. Yan Buren. Everywliere indications became visible 
on tlie part of tlie Old-line Democrats of a disposition to nnite 
with the Free-Soil Democrats "upon the ground of slavery pro- 
hibition. In a nmnber of States, resolutions were adopted by 
the Old-line and the Independent Democrats uniting the two 
organizations ; while in others where actual union did not take 
place, there was more or less concert of action betweeuithem. 



CHAPTER XII. 

DEMOCRATIC AIO'ISLAVEEY EST OHIO IN 184:8, 1849, AXD 1850 — COM- 

POSmON OF THE OHIO LEGISLATUEE EST 184:8-'4:9 WHIG AP- 

POETIOJSTMENT OF 1847-'48 EN" HAMILTOISr COUNTY FEEE-SOIL 

CAECES TOWNSHEND AND MOESE ACTION OF THE CAECUS 

THE MOESE AND TOWNSHEND COALITION WITH THE OLD-LINE 

DEMOCEATS ELECTION OF ME. CHASE TO THE UNITED STATES 

SENATE — WHIG CHARGES OF ITS IMMOEALITY WHAT HAP- 
PENED TO THE PEBSfCIPAL ACTOES IN THE COALITION 

EXTEACTS FROM LETTEES OF ME. CHASE VEEDICT OF THE 

PEOPLE OF OHIO HISTOEY OF THE EEPEAL OF THE " BLACK 

laws" NOTES TO CHAPTEE XH. 

I!N Ohio and ITew York, more than in the other free States, 
the Democracy felt the impulse of the antislavery move- 
ment. 

In the foimer, the State Convention which assembled at 
Colmnbiis on the 8th of January, 1848, had declared : " That 
the people of Ohio, now, as they have always done, look upon 
the institution of slavery in any part of the Union as an evil, 
and unfavorable to the full development of the spirit and prac- 
tical benefits of free institutions j and that, entertaining these 
sentiments, they will at the same time feel it to be theie duty 
TO USE all the power cleaely given by the national com- 
pact, TO peevent its inceease, to hhtigate and finally to 

EEADICATE THE EVIL." 

The doctrine contained in this statement of the creed of the 
Ohio Democracy was that avowed and supported by Mr. Chase, 



90 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

but the action of tlie ^National Democratic Convention destroyed 
whatever hopes he might have entertained that the Democracy of 
the nation would put themselves in accord with the Democracy 
of Ohio. He went into the movement which culminated in 
the Buffalo Convention therefore, with all his energies ; and in 
the canvass which followed took an active part, but confined his 
efforts almost wholly to Ohio. 

That canvass was marked by extraordinary features. 

There were in the State three strong parties. The great 
mass of the voters belonged, of course, either to the "Whig or to 
the Democratic party, but a very considerable number were Inde- 
pendent Democrats, or Free-Soilers, who supported the Buffalo 
nominations. The election for members of the Legislature 
showed the effect of this political condition. Much the greater 
number were Democrats and Whigs ; but some, not uninfluential 
members, had been elected as " Independent Democrats " or 
Free-Soilers, either by a imion between Old-line Democrats and 
Free-Soilers, or between Whigs and Free-Soilers ; and two had 
been elected as Independent Democrats over the nominees of 
both the old parties. The Legislature, thus chosen, had in its 
hands nearly the whole appointing power of the State, A 
United States Senator was to be elected ; two Judges of the 
Supreme Court were to be appointed, and a great number of 
less important offices were to be filled. 

This was the political situation at the time of the meeting of 
the Legislature in December, 1848. An important question 
engaged the attention of that body at the very beginning of the 
session, which arose out of the election of members in Hamilton 
County. 

For a long period of years Hamilton County had constituted 
but a single election district, and in 184Y was entitled to two 
senators and five representatives. The county being Demo- 
cratic, all these members were of course Democrats. 

At the session of 184:Y-'48, however, the Whigs succeeded 
in making a division of the county, by means of which one 
Whig senator and two Whig representatives would be elected 
in a fraction of the county, and one senator and three repre- 
sentatives would be elected by the Democrats in a large part of 
the county. 



THE HAMILTON COUNTY DIVISION. 91 

This division was denounced by the Democrats as unconsti- 
tutional ; they charged that it was a fraud upon the people of 
the whole State. The Whigs declared that it was not only con- 
stitutional, but was a measure of public justice. The question 
of the constitutionality of the act was undoubtedly one upon 
which scrupulous men might honestly differ ; but tliat it was 
singularly unequal and unjust in its operation could not be de- 
nied, and some not uniniluential members of the "Whig party 
opposed it for that reason. Mr. Chase, immediately upon the 
passage of the act — and long before his election to the United 
States Senate was possible or even thought of — stated his em- 
phatic conviction that it was unconstitutional. 

The Democrats acted upon their professions, and ignored the 
division. 'No senator was to be elected in ISiS, but they voted 
for two representatives upon the Democratic ticket common 
throughout Hamilton Comity. The Whigs voted for two candi- 
dates in the district created by the Whig apportionment ; if the 
act making the division were to prevail, the Whig candidates 
would of course be entitled to membership, seeing that they had 
a majority of votes in the new district, but the county clerk — a 
Democrat — gave certificates of election to the Democratic candi- 
dates. Upon the meeting of the Legislature, early in December, 
lSi8, there appeared as claimants for seats from Hamilton 
County — Pugh and Pierce, Democrats, and Spencer and Run- 
yon, Whigs. 

Kow, the Legislature itself was peculiarly constituted, in re- 
spect of political parties ; and for the first time in the history of 
the State, the Free-Soil members met in caucus for consultation 
touching the course proper to be pursued by them. 

There were present at that consultation thirteen Free-Soilers ; 
eleven of whom had been Whigs, and were elected by the aid of 
Whig votes, upon united Whig and Free-Soil tickets. Two 
members of the caucus — Colonel John F. Morse, of Lake County, 
and Dr. IN'orton S. Townshend, of Lorain — ^had been elected as 
" Independents," or in opposition to the candidates of both the 
old parties. Dr. Townshend was of Democratic antecedents, 
and Colonel Morse had formerly acted with the Whig party. 

It was proposed by one of the Whig members, that all legis- 
lative questions should be canvassed and decided in caucus, and 



92 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tliat all the Free-Soilers should consider themselves as pledged 
and bound to vote in the Senate and House as the majority of 
the caucus should determine. To this all present were asked 
to give distinct personal consent, and all consented except Dr. 
Townshend and Colonel Morse. The former said that he could 
not pledge himself to take a Whig view of all the questions pre- 
sented for legislative action, as inevitably he must if he consented 
to be governed as was proposed. Eleven of the thirteen members 
of the caucus were practically Whigs. He expressed a willing- 
ness at all times to consult with them, but he reserved to himself 
the right to vote according to his ovsru convictions of duty, and 
as in his judgment the cause of freedom should require. Colonel 
Morse fully indorsed the position taken by Dr. Townshend, and 
also declined to give the required pledge. Hereupon, one of 
the Whig members proposed the expulsion of both Townshend 
and Morse from the caucus. In reply to this. Dr. Townshend 
was allowed the opportunity to say, that eleven of the members 
present had been elected by Whig votes, and were therefore not 
independent of the Whig party ; and that as only Colonel Morse 
and himself had been elected in opposition to the candidates of 
both the old parties, they (that is Colonel Morse and himself) 
would in future consider themselves as the true Free-Soil party 
in the Legislature, and would not thereafter consult with any 
members who had been elected otherwise than as they had been — 
as Independent Democrats. Morse and Townshend then retired 
from the caucus. 

The importance of this action will be fully understood when 
the reader is informed that the eleven Whig Free-Soilers, united 
with the Old-line Whig members of the Legislature, exactly 
equaled in numbers the Old-line Democrats ; and that in joint 
ballot of Senate and House, Morse and Townshend held the 
" balance of power," 

Under these circumstances, Morse and Townshend at once 
became objects of much natural solicitude to both Whigs and 
Democrats ; and on their side, conscious of the strength of their 
position, and that they sought no selfish ends, they became ex- 
acting for the right, as they understood it, and secured at length 
not only the repeal of the " black laws " and the election of Mr. 
Chase to the United States Senate, but prevented the election 



THE MORSE AND TOWNSHEND COALITION. .93 

of any known pro-slavery man to the bench of the Supreme or 
inferior com-ts of the State ; great and important results, indeed ! 
wrought as they were by two men who belonged to a political 
organization which was at that time both hated and feared ! 

Colonel Morse had long been a near neighbor and friend of 
Joshua K. Giddings — the distinguished and courageous anti- 
slavery agitator in Northern Ohio — and desired his election to 
the Senate. Dr. Townshend desired the election of Mr. Chase, 
but both cared more for the antislavery cause than for the ele- 
vation of any particular man, or for the advancement of any 
party. They consulted, and determined that Colonel Morse 
should confer with leading Whig members with a view to union 
in political action. The basis of the proposed union was, that 
if the Whigs would join Morse and Townshend in procuring 
the repeal of the " black laws," and the election of Mr. Giddings 
to the United States Senate, they would join the Whigs in 
electing the Whig candidates into the State and judicial offices. 
Dr. Townshend was at the- same time authorized to confer with 
leading Democrats, and to arrange with them a union, if the 
Whigs should decline — the conditions being that, if the Demo- 
crats would join in the repeal of the " black laws " and the 
election of Mr. Chase to the United States Senate, they — Morse 
and Townshend, the Independent Democratic party in the Legis- 
lature — would unite to support certain Democratic measures and 
nominations. 

The great majority of the Whig members promptly acceded 
to the proposed coahtion, but three or four " silver-grays " were 
perseveringly obstinate, and finally defeated it ; not because 
they found in it any culpable degree of corruption, but because 
they were too intensely pro-slavery to be brought into the sup- 
port of so avowed and resolute an antislavery candidate as Mr. 
Giddings. 

The whole body of the Democrats chose to accept the alliance ; 
nor was it difficijlt for them to do so, for the reasons particularly, 
that they were unembarrassed by the necessity of subordinating 
theu' action to the dictation of a national Democratic Adminis- 
tration ; and because, secondly, there were some Old-line members 
sufficiently imbued with antislavery sentiments to prefer Mr. 
Chase to any other candidate. These exerted a large influence 



94 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

in bringing about the result ; and the arrangement, first made 
between Colonel Morse and Dr. Townsbend, and afterward be- 
tween both of them and the Democrats, was faithfully carried 
out by all the parties to it. It had no reference to the admission 
of Pugh and Pierce, however, for that had been determined 
before the coalition was formed. 

Mr, Chase was elected on the 22d of February, 1849, on the 
third ballot. He received the vote of every Old-line Democrat, 
and of Morse and Townshend. 

Ilis election was of course deeply exasperating to the Whigs 
throughout the State, and the passions then excited no doubt 
greatly affected his political fortunes in his after-life. They 
made the most virulent charges of corruption and of bargain 
and sale ; all of them founded upon the facts above written. 
The admission of Pugh and Pierce was peculiarly and especially 
irritating ; and of all the circumstances preliminary to the elec- 
tion was the particular one upon which the most serious impu- 
tations were cast ; but the subsequent political action of the 
people of Hamilton County and of the State at large, was a 
complete vindication of the Democrats, both Old-line and Inde- 
pendent, who took part in these transactions. The leaders in 
the Townshend and Morse coalition were afterward honored 
by the people in various emphatic ways. Dr. Townshend was 
in 1850 elected to the Constitutional Convention of Ohio ; after- 
ward to the Congress of the United States, and now (18T4) is a 
professor in the Agricultural College of Ohio. Colonel Morse 
was reelected to the Legislature, and was in 1850 made Speaker 
of the House of Representatives — a special and distinguished 
mark, on the part of the people of the State, of their approval 
of his action in 1849. George E. Pugh was elected to the 
Legislature a second time ; then Attorney-General of the State, 
and then Senator of the United States. Stanley Matthews, 
Alexander Long, Rufus P. Spalding, and others (in the Legis- 
lature and out of it), who were connected with, the " Free-Soil 
firm of Morse and Townshend " — as the coalition was familiarly 
called in the party slang of the times — ^have since been the re- 
cipients of public favor. 

Very early in his public career, Mr. Chase had distinctly 
announced his pui'pose to subordinate all other subjects of 



MR. CHASE'S ELECTION, 95 

political action to tlie paramount one of detacMng tlie Federal 
Government from any and all responsibility for human slavery. 
He had repeatedly declared his-settled purpose to act with either 
of the great parties which should take this ground. The posi- 
tion of the Old-line Democracy of Ohio in 1849 was, in profession 
at least, nearly if not wholly up to the standards of the Liberty 
men. It seemed entirely probable that they might come mto 
complete accord with the Independent Democrats ; and upon 
this conviction Mr. Chase declared his intention to act with 
them in State politics, so long as they maintained that position, 
and did so in the fall elections of 1849, 1850 and 1851. 

" I see," said Mr. Chase, in a letter to Colonel Morse, under 
date of Washmgton, March 14, 1849—" I see that the Whig 
papers are pouring out their denunciations upon me. I could 
not prevent them if I would. But if the Free-S oilers had 
united with the Whigs in electing their officers, the tone of 
these Whig papers would be far different. We must be con- 
tent to endure. We have done no wrono; in endeavoring^ to 
settle, in conformity to justice, the vexed questions which grew 
out of the apportionment law, or by electing fit men — though 
Democrats not of our organization — to office, or by receiving 
the aid of such Democrats in the repeal of the ' black laws ' 
and the election of free Democrats to office. Beyond this, 
we have not meddled with the questions between the old par- 
ties. We leave those questions to be considered by the people, 
in the light of the principles laid down in our platform, and 
to the action of a f utm*e Legislature. For my own part, I am 
conscious of nothing which justifies this abuse of me ; nor shall 
I retaliate it. In the position to which I have been called, 
it will be my aim to deserve the confidence of the people of 
Ohio and of the entire IsTorthwest, by striving to bring the 
national Govenunent back to the principles of the Ordinance 
of 1Y87, and by promoting measures calculated to advance 
their interests and develop the resources of their States." 
" Thanks for your cordial congratulations," he wrote to his 
friend Cleveland, about the same time. " I rejoice to know 
that my election gives such universal satisfaction to those 
who fight the battles of freedom so bravely and with such 
inflexible determination in the ranks of the Liberty party. 



96 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

I shall strive to deserve the generous confidence which they 
tender to me in advance, though I cannot hope to realize the 
expectations of friends so partial as yourself. I lack experience 
and that prompt sagacity which is a substitute for experience, 
and often so sufficient a substitute. But I shall try to do right. 
I hope that I may have the strength and resolution necessary 
to do right in the midst of circumstances the most menacing, or 
most persuasive to the opposite course ! I already see that I 
will require much of both, in matters quite independent of sla- 
very questions." 

Whether coalitions such as that by which Mr. Chase was 
first elected to the American Senate are warranted by the 
maxims of a strict political morality, is a question which 
every reader will determine for himself. But wherever parha- 
mentary government exists, they have happened more or less 
frequently, and will continue to liappen to the end of time. 
Those political philosophers who object to them, must devise 
some improvement upon the system by which they can be made 
impossible. 

— ^Long after the discussion of the events attending upon 
the election of Mr. Chase had ceased ; after every one of them 
had been laid bare, and exhibited in the worst possible view of 
which party rancor was capable, the people of Ohio rendered 
a final verdict upon the whole matter by twice electing Mr. 
Chase to be their chief magistrate, and a second time — by the 
overwhelming vote of their delegates — choosing him to be a rep- 
resentative of their State in the Senate of the United States. 

.... Subjoined is a brief history of the repeal of the black 
laws of Ohio, referred to in the preceding accoimt of the cir- 
cumstances attending upon the first election of Mr. Chase to 
the United States Senate : 

In the canvass that preceded the fall election of 1848 in 
Ohio, the repeal of the law which excluded colored people from 
the witness-box had been favored by a considerable number of 
Whigs and opposed by a large majority of the Democrats. The 
Free-Soilers had demanded the repeal of all laws making distinc- 
tions on account of color. When the Legislature met at Colum- 
bus in December, it was soon ascertained that the Free-Soil 
members held the balance of power, and it naturally became an 



REPEAL OF THE BLACK LAWS. 97 

object witli botli tlie other parties to secure their adhesion. 
But these members declared their determination to imite with 
no party which would not vote for the repeal of the Mack laws^ 
as the laws making distinctions on account of color were com- 
monly called. Mr. Chase was in Columbus at this time, in pro- 
fessional attendance upon the courts, and was much consulted 
by the Free-Soil members and especially by those who had 
been elected without aid from either of the old parties. 

His advice was against cooperation with any party except 
upon condition of the repeal of the black laws, and this advice 
was the more readily adopted as it was. in complete unison with 
the views of the members to whom it was given. 

The laws called the Mack laws required colored people to give 
bonds for good behavior as a condition of residence ; excluded 
them from the schools ; denied them the right of testifying in 
the courts when a white man was party on either side; and 
subjected them to other imjust and degrading disabilities. Mr. 
Chase had been an open and consistent opponent of all this in- 
justice for years, and was ready to take advantage of a condi- 
tion of things which offered an opportunity of incorporating 
his views into the legislation of the State. He, therefore, think- 
ing " that the best day was well employed in such a work," 
devoted an entire Sunday in January, 1849, to the preparation 
of such a bill as he thought would be least likely to excite 
violent hostility among the members of the Legislature, and at 
the same time accomplish the objects of the Free-Soilers. The 
fii'st section of the bill provided for separate schools for colored 
children in localities where the local authorities should deter- 
mine their admission to the ordinary schools inexpedient ; and 
for the care and direction of these separate schools, w^herever 
they might be established, by trustees elected by the colored 
people themselves ; and the concluding section provided for the 
repeal of all laws making distinctions on account of color. 
This bill went so far beyond any reform in this respect that had 
ever been thought possible, except after many years of arduous 
labor, that hardly any one believed it at all likely to pass. But 
Mr. Chase was confident and the Free-Soil members were reso- 
lute. They adopted his bill, and consulted with other members. 
As observed in the body of this chapter, the Ohio Democrats 
1 



98 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

were pretty strongly imbued, at tliis time, with antislavery sen- 
timents. They had recently witnessed the election by the "Whigs 
of a Southern slaveholder over their ISTorthern Democratic candi- 
date, and free from the embarrassment of a national administra- 
tion or a pending national political contest, were predisposed to 
a favorable consideration of the Free-Soil proposition. This 
predisposition was largely due also to their desire to have the 
cooperation of the Free-Soil members in the legislative appoint- 
ments and elections about to be made. At any rate, they took 
the bill into consideration and agreed to support it. 

Thereupon it was introduced into the House of Eepresenta- 
tives by Colonel John F. Morse, and was carried by a large ma- 
jority ; the Whigs following, for the most part, the lead of the 
Democrats ; and both parties voting for it with a considerable 
degree of unanimity. It was then sent to the Senate, where it 
could doubtless have been passed at once, but for a motion by a 
Whig Senator to refer it to a committee. The motion prevailed ; 
the bill was refen-ed ; and was reported with amendments which 
excepted from the repeal the laws which denied to the colored 
people the right to sit on juries, and the right to poor-house 
relief. These amendments were adopted by decided votes in 
the Senate, and concurred in by the House, after considerable 
opposition from leading Democrats — and the bill thus amended, 
became a law. 

Prompt action in a favorab],e conjuncture of circumstances, 
thus secured the enactment by decisive majorities in both 
Houses, of a humane and beneficent law, which, under almost 
any other circumstances, would have been rejected by majorities 
equally decisive. It was one of those acts in advance of the 
sentiments and yet in accordance with the moral convictions of 
the people, which required but tact and courage to be accom- 
plished, but once accomplished, are not likely to be reversed. 
It relieved the colored people from all their most onerous 
disabilities ; gave them entrance into the schools, and awakened 
great hopes for the future. Laws were afterward enacted in 
derogation of the right of suffrage allowed by the constitution 
to colored persons, half and more than one-haK white, but the 
advantages gained to them by the act of 1849 were never lost. 



LETTER TO THE HON. JOSHUA R. GIDDINGS. 99 



NOTES TO CHAPTER XII. 

The following extracts illustrate Mr. Chase's views on the subjects 
referred to, and properly belong to this period in this history. 



Extracts from some remarks made by Mr. Chase before the Liberty 
Convention held at Columbus, December 29, 1842 : He said he did not 
know how far Liberty men were agreed upon questions of money and trade, 
nor did he consider unanimity as essential. " Establish truth and justice," 
he said, " restore the Government to its true sphere of action, and there 
would be little difficulty in settling the other questions." Individually, 
he would confess his opinions without reserve. "The great question in 
respect of the currency seemed to be, whether credit could be made to serve 
the purpose of money. If it could — if paper could be made the actual 
representative of specie dollars, always exchangeable for specie at the will 
of the holder, without loss or considerable inconvenience, he had no objec- 
tion to a mixed currency. But he was utterly opposed to a mere paper- 
money system — to all bank frauds — to all bank suspensions on their issues 
or deposits — to all bank expansions. Touching the question of foreign 
trade, it seemed to him that the Creator of all designed that the different 
nations of the earth should live together in harmony and mutual infer- 
course, supplying reciprocally the wants of each other, and that all unneces- 
sary restrictions upon intercourse and mutual supply were wrong in prin- 
ciple and impolitic in practice. But that inasmuch as the duties on imports 
were the most convenient sources of revenue, and the settled jjolicy of the 
Government was to raise the revenue in that manner, he could see no 
objection to so arranging those duties as to encourage any branches of 
production or manufactures which would, in a reasonable time, become so 
established as to maintain themselves without protection." 

II. 

Extract from a letter to the Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, under date 
of August 15, 1846: .... "I will give you briefly my own view. I 
cannot adopt a "Whig antislavery platform, because I do not at all concur 
in Whig views of public policy, either as an antislavery man oj a simple 
citizen. I think that the political views of the Democrats are, in the 
main, sound ; and the chief fault I have to accuse them of is, that they do 
not carry out their principles in reference to the subject of slavery. I do 
not believe in a high tarifl", in a Bank of the United States, or a system of 
corporate banking. I am not willing, therefore, to act with a party which 
will only make antislavery one of the items of its political faith, or rather 
give to certain objects of antislavery action a place among its measures. 
Of course, I am very far from being willing to act with the Whig party, 
which does not, as a party, adopt any antislavery faith or propose any 
antislavery measures. Lest I may be misunderstood, I will add that were 
the Whig party to adopt Liberty principles and measures as paramount in 
importance, I should give to its candidates, if honest and capable,_a cordial 
support — however I might ditfer as to banks, trade, etc., etc., which I and 
they would then agree in regarding as subordinate. 



/ 



100 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" Tou have here my ideas as to the only basis upon which an an ti slavery 
party can stand. It may be true that antislavery men in the other parties 
can render much service to the cause of freedom by availing themselves, 
within their respective organizations, of the antislavery sentiment there 
and the pressure from without ; and I have sometimes thought that if all 
the antislavery men whose opuiions are Democratic, should act with that 
party in this State, they might change its character wholly. But I have 
not been sanguine enough in this idea to make it a basis of action, though 
much urged to it by some friends now in the Democratic party, who are 
pleased to say that my influence, joined with their own, might effect the 
desired object of making the action of the party in relation to slavery con- 
sistent with its general principles. My fear is, that if there were no party, 
distinctly and earnestly antislavery, parties divided by other questions 
would, as they always have, compromise away liberty." .... 

III. 

Extracts from a letter to Joshua R. Giddings, under date October 20, 
1846 : . . . . "I have failed in expressing myself with as much clearness 
as I wished, if I have conveyed to your mind the idea that I am prepared 
to accede to any political union which is not based upon the substantial 
principles and measures of the Liberty men. What I am willing to give up 
are, names and separate organizations; — what I am not willing to give up 
are, principles and consistent action, both with reference to men and 
measures in accordance with principles. . . . Let me state to you briefly 
my idea of the grounds which, in my judgment, should determine the 
course of an honest man in political action in reference to the subject of 
slavery. 

"If I were a Whig, in the Whig party, and believed that by the action 
of that party, the overthrow of the slave-power and the extinction of 
slavery could be speedily achieved, I would act with and in that party ; 
supporting, however, for ofiice only antislavery men. 

"If I were a Democrat, in the Democratic party, and entertained a 
belief as to that party as stated above in regard to the Whig party, i 
would act in and with the Democratic party, supporting for office, how- 
ever, only antislavery men. 

" If I were persuaded (as I am) that there is now no reasonable pros- 
pect that either the Whig or the Democratic party, constituted as both are 
of slaveholders and non-slaveholders, and, as national parties, admitting 
no antislavery articles into their creed and much less avowed antislavery 
measures into their action, can at present be relied on for cordial and 
inflexible hostility to slavery and the slave-power, I would (and of course 
•do) abstain from cooperation with either of those parties, and act in and 
with the only party with which I agree in principle and action in relation 
to the paramount political question of the day." ... 

rv. 

To Charles B. Miller, of Toledo. 

"CiNoiNNATi, July 4, 1849. 

. . . . " All the omens seem auspicious to out cause. In some of the 
free States, the entire body of the old Democracy adopts our platform, 
and rallies with us under the common standard of the Democratic faith, 
unsullied by compromise with oppression. In others, numerous individuals 
and sections favor our views and are prepared for union, while portions 
of the party, prompted by various considerations, still hold back. 



LETTER TO MR. BRESLIN. IQl 

" Besides these accessions of strength, the progressive wing of the old 
Whig party, animated by a generous zeal for freedom and equal rights, 
and refusing any longer to be directed by leaders of doubtful policy or 
principle in respect to slavery, arrays itself boldly and decidedly on our 
side. Evidently, there can be but two parties in the free States. One of 
them must be the free Democracy, animated and guided by those measures 
of equal rights which have ever constituted the basis of the Democratic 
creed ; and the other, the party of expediency, compromise and conserv- 
atism, by whatever name designated. . . . 

" Under these circumstances, all that we have to do is to go steadily 
forward, trusting in God. Our cause is our strength. Unswerving fidelity 
to our principles and inflexible perseverance in united effort will, with 
his blessing, give us the victory." 

V. 

To John G. Breslin. 

"CrNCiNNATi, July 30, 1849. 

" I observe indications in various quarters of a disposition on the part 
of influential gentlemen to interpose difficulties in the way of a cordial 
union between the Old-line Democracy and the free Democracy, by insist- 
ing on conditions to which the latter cannot agree without the sacrifice 
of principles which they hold far dearer than party success. 

"The free Democracy, holding in common with the Old-line Democ- 
racy, the cardinal and essential doctrines of the Democratic faith, believe 
that the time has come for the application of those doctrines to the sub- 
ject of slavery as well as to the subjects of currency and trade. They 
believe that slavery is the worst form of despotism. The ownership of 
one man by another is the most absolute subjection known to human 
experience. No Democrat who has any real living faith in the great cardinal 
doctrine of the Democracy, that all men have equal rights by nature, and 
that the only legitimate object of government is to maintain and secure 
these rights, can doubt that slaveholding is grossly inconsistent with 
Democratic princiijles. 

" It is not necessary to advert to the circumstances which, for many 
years, prevented either of the great parties from taking ground against 
slavery. It is enough that circumstances are now changed. The acquisi- 
tion of Mexican territories has presented the question of slavery in new 
aspects. Heretofore the slave-power has been content with retaining 
slave territory as slave territory ; now it seeks to subject free territory to 
the blight of slavery. This enormous pretension has led to a more general 
examination of the constitutional relations of the General Government to 
the slave system ; and that examination has fastened the conviction in the 
minds of thousands and hundreds of thousands that the Government of 
the Union is bound to prohibit slavery in the Territories, and to exert all 
its legitimate and constitutional powers to limit, localize and discourage it, 
and especially to prohibit its existence in all places within the sphere of 
its exclusive jurisdiction. 

" This is the conviction of the Democracy. They have announced it 
over and over again, and are pledged to govern their political action by 
it. This pledge they will undoubtedly redeem. 

" Now, what is to hinder the reception of this faith by the Old-line 
Democracy ? What shall prevent their bold and frank avowal of it ? 
What should interfere with manly and straightforward action in consist- 
ency with it ? 

" I can see but one thing — the alliance, so called, with the slaveholders 



103 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

themselves — the fear of losing their political support and influence in a 
presidential election. 

" Now, it is very certain that no consideration of mere political expe- 
diency ought to induce the Democracy to refrain from carrying out their 
own principles ; and it seems to me equally certain that political expedi- 
ency and duty at this time coincide. 

" For what will be the cost to the Democracy of the alliance with the 
slaveholders in a presidential campaign ? 

"To determine this question, it must first be seen what the slavehold- 
ers demand as the price of their alliance. This demand is easily stated. 

" It is non-interventten upon the subject of slavery. That is, Northern 
men may think and act at home as they choose, and Southern men like- 
wise ; but when Northern men and Southern men meet at Washington, 
either in executive or legislative capacities, they must not take any action 
against slavery, but leave the slaveholders at liberty to introduce slave- 
holding wherever they can. 

" This, if I imderstand it, is the ground of the Washington Union, 
which has been approved by a number of Democratic prints in the free 
States, and universally, I believe — as well it might be — in the slave States. 

" Now, it is my deliberate opinion that it is utterly impracticable to 
unite the Democracy on this platform in the free States. 

" The free Democracy can never accede to it; and maintaining, as they 
do, the cardinal doctrines of Democracy, and occupying as they will, a 
bold and independent position on the slavery question and every other, 
the people — who love boldness and independence — will rally round them 
in such numbers that it will be utterly impossible for compromising De- 
mocracy to carry a respectable number of free States ; and they must, as 
heretofore, divide the free States with compromising Whigism. Success, 
therefore, on the non-intervention platform is, for the old Democracy, quite 
out of the question. 

" The free Democracy believe in non-intervention, such as the Consti- 
tution requires ; non-intervention by Congress with the legislation of the 
States on the subject of slavery. But neither the history of the country 
nor the Constitution of the .country, warrants non-intervention by Con. 
gress with slavery in Territories and elsewhere without the limits of any 
State, but within the exclusive jurisdiction of the national Government. 
Slavery in such Territory or places cannot, under a strict construction of 
the Constitution, exist at all. Slavery in such Territory or places ought 
at least to be prohibited by Congress. 

" I have regretted to see certain expressions attributed to John Van 
Buren calculated to revive unpleasant feeling — such as, that the national 
Democratic party is dissolved. I would prefer to say, that the national 
Democratic party is in process of regeneration — in progress, obeying that 
law of progress which all its doctrines recognize, from the old platform of 
non-intervention to the Jeffersonian platform of slavery restriction and dis- 
couragement. It seems to me that the party in the free States ought at 
once to advance to the Jeffersonian ground, and there unite in indissolu- 
ble phalanx with their brethren of the free Democracy. Let the party in 
the slave States advance to the same ground. Perhaps in advancing some 
may desert and go over to the Conservatives. Possibly in the slave States 
the party must go into a temporary minority. Let it be so. The compen- 
sation will be found in the concentration, unanimity, and the invincibility 
of the imited Democracy in the free States. Triumphant in the free States, 
and strong by the strength of their principles even in the slave States, the 
Democracy can elect all its national candidates, under such circumstances, 
in despite of all opposition. 



THE MORSE AND TOWNSHEND COALITION. 103 

" Sucli are my views. I feel strong confidence that time will prove 
their correctness. I am a Democrat, and I feel earnestly solicitous for the 
success of the Democratic organization and the triumph of its principles. 
The doctrines of the Democracy on the subjects of trade, currency and 
special privileges, command the entire assent of my judgment. But I can- 
not, while bol.dly asserting their principles in reference to those subjects, 
shrink from their just application to slavery. I should feel guilty of 
shameful dereliction of duty if I did. You know what multitudes now 
sympathize with me, and how truly. It is this very fidelity to Democratic 
principles which makes it impossible for them to compromise with slavery. 
What a melancholy spectacle it would be to see the Democratic party em- 
bracing defeat by such a compromise, and thus making it necessary for 
hundreds of thousands of the truest Democrats in the laud to choose be- 
tween adhesion to party and adhesion to principle ! " 

VI. 

Extract from a speech of Mr. Chase in the Senate of the United States, 
April 9, 1853 : " Let me say to all who concern themselves in these things, 
that so far as I have had any share in any political action in Oliio, I stand 
ready to meet the fullest and the most searching scrutiny. I have no po- 
litical secrets. My public life has been so plain, so open, that he who 
runs may read its record. No man can truthfully say that I have ever de- 
viated, upon any occasion or under any influence, by the breadth of a 
hair, from the path which fidelity to -my long-cherished principles required 
me to pursue. It is true that I acted in a minority. The time has been 
when I stood almost alone. Some years ago when I first promulgated 
those political opinions which have ever since determined ray action, I 
found few sympathizers or supporters. But I knew those principles to be 
sound. I believed them to be important ; and I did not shrink from their 
defense then any more than I shrink from it now, when their abstract cor- 
rectness is generally admitted and their practical application is resolutely 
demanded by tens of thousands of voters at the ballot-box. And let me 
say to gentlemen that they are indulging a vain dream, if they fancy that 
those principles are to die out of the hearts of the people. They will go 
on conquering and to conquer. You may depend upon it that the faith 
of freedom is neither dead nor dying. You may depend upon it that it 
has lost nothing of that vital energy which has overcome so many preju- 
dices and changed so many convictions. The advocates of that faith 
shrink from no discussion ; they desire it rather. They court investiga- 
tion; they challenge scrutiny. They know that the more their principles 
and measures are examined and scrutinized, the more they will commend 
themselves not only to the warm and generous aff"ections, but to the sober 
and deliberate judgments of the American people. 

" And now let me further say that there is nothing in the circumstances 
of my election which I desire to withdraw from scrutiny here or elsewhere. 
There happen to be two Democratic parties in my State. The political 
platforms of both are substantially the same ; but one insists upon the na- 
tional recognition and adoption of its principles as the condition of sup- 
port to national nominees ; the other has heretofore supported such nomi- 
nees without any real condition. The former is known as the Indepen- 
dent or free Democracy : the latter as the Old-line Democracy — and many 
who act in the Old-line party hold the State platform very cheap, and sym- 
pathize strongly with those who are known in the other States as ' Hun- 
kers.' There are more, however, with whom the principles of the State 
platform are a cherished faith, and who of course sympathize more strongly 



104 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

■witb the Independent Democracy. Some two years ago, when no national 
election was pending, when the Old-line Democracy was in opposition to 
the national Administration, and of course not responsible for any pro- 
slavery action, many Independent Democrats — myself among them — sup- 
ported the Old-line nominations. At this election, the Old-line ticket 
was elected by a large majority over all opijosition. Upon no other occa- 
sion, for many years, has the Old-line State ticket received an absolute 
majority." 

A Senator inquired, " How was it at the last presidential election ? " 
Mr. Chase : " The Independent Democrats unanimously sujiported their 
own ticket, and the Baltimore nominees lacked fifteen thousand votes of 
an absolute majority. Well, there has been in New York a union of the 
Barnburners and Hunkers ; and no small pains is taken at the other end 
of the Avenue and at this, to cement and consolidate the union. We have 
witnessed a pretty careful distribution and adjustment of the offices with 
this view. How the attempt to harmonize these discordant elements by 
the potent influence of patronage will succeed, I cannot say. But we 
Isjiow it is made, and we know it is the most common thing in the world, 
when two parties or two sections of one joarty, having some common ob- 
jects, uniti to form a majority over a third party hostile to those objects, 
to divide the offices which that majority has to fill, between the sections 
which compose it. Now, it so happened that in the Legislature of Ohio in 
1848-49 no party had a majority. The Independent Democrats, it is true, 
were few in number ; but the Old-line Democrats, though numerous, were 
not numerous enough to effect any thing by themselves. Under these cir- 
cumstances, that which was most natural took place : the Independent 
and Old-line Democrats united. But there was — and I am proud to say 
it — no sacrifice of principle on either side. The Old-line Democrats voted 
for me because they knew me to be sound in the Democratic faith, though 
Independent in j)arty action. The Independent Democrats voted for Old- 
line nominees for Supreme Judges, who, though they differed from them 
in party action, yet shared their general opposition to the extension and 
nationalization of slavery. Let the Senator make of this all he can. I see 
nothing in it to lament. I can appeal confidently to my whole course here 
to justify the confidence reposed in me. Nothing has transpired in the 
history of either of the eminent gentlemen, elected to other offices at the 
same time, to make the Independent Democrats regret the votes they cast 
for them. Many members of the Legislature who participated in those 
elections have since received distinguished proofs of public confidence ; 
and a succession of Democratic victories instead of the succession of de- 
feats which had for years marked the previous history of the Democratic 
party, has attested the wisdom of the Old-liUe Democrats who recom- 
mended, or adopted, or approved the union. 

" I do not so highly value a seat here that I would sacrifice one jot or tittle 
of my personal independence to obtain or to retain it. Nor would I surrender 
any political principles to come or to remain here. It is very possible I may 
not be reelected. I shall have as little to regret in that event as any man. 
I am entirely willing, whenever the people of my State indicate that such 
is their pleasure, to retire from the scene. I have said on another occasion 
and to my Democratic constituents, that a private is not less acceptable to 
me than a public station. I said it sincerely and honestly. I have ever 
preferred, and all the acts of my life M'ill prove it, action with a minority 
in defense of principles, to action with a majority and to any position 
which a majority can confer, in disregard of principles." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

ME. CHASE TAKES HIS SEAT IN" THE SENATE — THIETY-FIEST CON- 
GRESS SLAVEKT AGITATION TAKES NO PART EST DEMOCEATIO 

CAUCUS QUESTION OF SLAVERY IN THE DOMAIN ACQUIRED FROM 

MEXICO APPLICATION OF CALIFORNIA FOE ADMISSION INTO 

THE UNION PROPOSAL OF COMPROMISE SENATE COiQIITTEE OF 

THIRTEEN — REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE — EXTRACTS FROM MR. 
chase's SPEECH ON THE MATTERS INVOLVED IN THAT REPORT. 

ME. CHASE was elected to tlie Senate on tlie 22d of Febru- 
ary, 1849, and took Ms seat as a member of that body on 
tlie 6tli of March ensuing ; the Senate being tlien in special ex- 
ecutive session for the transaction of business immediately neces- 
sary upon tbe accession of General Taylor to the presidency. 
Little else was done, except to debate the validity of tbe election 
of General Sliields. It happened, however, that during this 
special session Kudolphus Dickinson, a member of the House 
from Ohio, died in "Washington, and it devolved upon Mr. Chase 
to make the customary obituary address and move the customary 
resolutions ; a task he performed, he says, very httle to his owu 
satisfaction. 

The first regular session of the Thirty-first Congress began 
on the 3d of December, 1849, in the midst of great pohtical ex- 
citement and agitation not only in Congress, but throughout the 
whole country. " It is not to be denied," said Mr. Webster ; * 
" it is not to be denied that we hve in the midst of strong agita- 
tions, and are surrounded by dangers to our institutions of gov- 
ernment. The imprisoned winds are let loose. The East, the 

^ In his celebrated speech of March Y, 1850. 



106 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

West, the ITortli, and the storaiy South, all combine to throw 
the whole ocean into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, 
and to disclose its profoimdest depths." ITearly three weeks 
were spent in fruitless efforts to organize the House of Eepre- 
sentatives, and an organization was at last effected only through 
proceedings of doubtful constitutionality. Pending this long 
struggle — which was frequently interrupted by scenes of great 
disorder and tumult — the Senate did no other business than 
form the necessary standing committees (carefully ignoring Mr. 
■ "X/Chase and Mr. Hale), and debate somewhat warmly the question 
of admitting Father Theobald Matthew, an Irish Roman Cath- 
olic priest — a famous promoter of temperance and of known 
antislavery sentiments — to the privileges of the floor. 

On his advent into the Senate Mr. Chase found there Benton, 
Calhoun, Clay, "Webster, Cass, Corwin, Bell, Berrien, and others 
of the great men of that generation of statesmen, and some 
whose names have since become historic — Douglas, Jefferson 
Davis ; James M. Mason and Hannibal Hamlin. Mr. Seward 
was a new member just elected by the Whigs of New York. 

Mr, Chase felt a great disinclination to take part in the de- 
bates ; a disinclination which arose as well from natural modesty 
and distrust of his own powers, as from a sense of inexperience 
and deference to the venerable men who surrounded him ; and 
hence, though a constant attendant upon the sessions of the 
Senate, and deeply and anxiously interested in all the great mat- 
ters of legislation pending before it, he participated but little in 
the debates. 
p~" He took no part in the caucuses of the Democratic members — 
being, as was said, " outside of a healthy organization " — and 
declined in any way to commit himself to their party further 
than to support their candidates in Ohio so long as the Demo- 
crats in that State maintained an antislavery position. He did 
not believe the union between the Independent or Free-Soil and 
Old-line Democracy likely to become effective or permanent until 
the latter, in national convention, should declare their freedom 
from pro-slavery domination, or should break the bonds of ad- 
hesion to the slave interest by an open separjition. 

The year 1850 was an important and eventful one in the his- 
tory of the antislavery struggle. 



THE SLAVERY AGITATION OF 1850. 107 

It has been observed in a former chapter that the war -^-itli 
Mexico and the consequent acquisition of vast territories from 
that country, had given a new and widely-extended impulse to 
the agitation of the slavery question. The South had expected 
to profit from foreign acquisition by adding new States to the 
slaveholding portion of the United States ; but that expectation 
was not realized. " Surprise and disappointment have resulted 
of course," said Mr. "Webster. "In other words, it is obvious 
that the question which has so long harassed the comitry, and 
at times very seriously alarmed the minds of wise and good men, 
has come upon us for a fresh discussion — the question of slavery 
in these United States ; " slavery being one of those questions 
which are ever fresh though discussed for ages, and are never 
settled though settled regularly in every decade. 

The treaty of peace with Mexico had been made in February, 

1848, but irreconcilable differences of opinion in Congress had 
prevented the estabhshment of territorial governments in the 
newly-acquired domain. The people of California, unwilling to 
await Federal action and sorely needing a fixed government, 
chose delegates to a Territorial Convention. This was in June, 

1849. The convention met at Monterey, and formed a State 
constitution. This constitution contained an express prohibition 
of slavery. Of the members of the convention, some sixteen 
were natives and had been residents of the slaveholding States ; 
twenty-two were from the non-slaveholding States, and the re- 
maining ten members were either native Califomians or old set- 
tlers in that country. The prohibition of slavery was made by 
the unanimous voice of the whole body. 

But disappointment touching the newly-acquired domain was 
not the only cause of irritation to the South. Antislavery had 
grown to be dangerously aggressive. 'Petitions were presented 
in Congress from all parts of the Korth, praying not only for 
the positive exclusion of slavery from the new Territories, but 
for its abolition in the District of Columbia, for its abolition in 
all places within the jurisdiction of the General Government, 
for the interdiction of the slave-trade upon the high-seas and 
between the States^ for the repeal of the fugitive slave law. The 
Legislatm-e of ]S'ew York solemnly resolved that to admit slavery 
into 'New Mexico would be revolting to the spirit of the age. 



108 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Yennont declared slavery to be a crime ; * and several ITortlierii 
States instructed their Senators to vote for slavery restriction. 
These things excited a real fear and alarm in the Sonth, and 
strongly indicated to the people of that section not only the loss 
of their political equality in the national councils, but the ultimate 
destruction of their slave-property. 

Some scheme of " adjustment " was demanded, therefore, by 
the South. The admission of California was strenuously resisted, 
unless accompanied by compensation for the exclusion of slavery 
from its borders. ^ 

Mr. Clay on the 29th of January, 1850, had introduced into 
the Senate a series of resolutions covering the whole ground of 

' Mr. Chase's views on slavery, almost immediately upon his appearance in the 
Senate, became the subject of severe comment by Southern Senators. His first 
remarks at any length were upon the resolutions of the Legislature of Vermont, 
presented by Mr. Upham of that State, early in January, 1850. These resolutions 
denounced slavery as a crime and a sore evil tipon the body politic, and were very 
bitterly and specially censured by Mr. Mason, of Virginia, and Mr. Butler, of South 
Carolina, and by some others. These voted for printing the resolutions in order, as 
they said, that the Southern people might see the growth of antislavery sentiment 
in the North. They said they wanted such denunciations put upon the public rec- 
ords, that when " that issue came which all patriots and lovers of the Union should 
avoid," it would appear what sort of vituperation had been heaped upon the South, 
not by fanatics only, but by sovereign States. To this Mr. Chase replied ; agreeing 
with Mr. Butler that the people of the South should be distinctly informed as to 
Northern sentiment. It was his opinion, however, that the way to an amicable solu- 
tion of the slavery question did not lie through crimination and recrimination, but 
in a clear and candid understanding of the positions on both sides. But he thought 
it due to the people of Ohio to say that no menace of disunion, no resolves tending 
toward disunion, nor intimations of the probability of disunion in any form, should 
move him from the path judgment and conscience told him he ought to pursue. He 
added that he wished to observe an entire respect for the rights of all the people 
and of all the States in the Union. To this Mr. Butler answered that while the Ohio 
Senator admonished the cultivatiop of harmony, and tendered homilies on the value 
of the Union, he had avowed doctrines which would seem to aim at the disfranchise- 
ment of the Southern section of the country. " I cannot allow him to preach mod- 
eration," said Mr. Butler, " when I know he has, with others, ultimate designs — de- 
signs which I will not allow him to disguise under forms and professions of modera- 
tion." And these " ultimate designs " Mr. Butler found shadowed at length in Mr. 
Chase's letter to Breslin, which he caused to be read in open Senate as the proof! 

Mr. Chase uniformly voted for the reception of all petitions presented in the Sen- 
ate ; among others for one praying for a dissolution of the Union — saying in respect 
to it, however, that of course Congress had no constitutional power to grant such a 
prayer ; but that to refuse to receive the petition would be an infringement — an 
invasion— of the constitutional right of the people to present their grievances. 



COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850. 109 

controversy between the sections, and proposing measures for 
their settlement. Pending the discussion of these — on the 13th 
of February — the President communicated to both Houses au- 
thenticated copies of the constitution of the proposed new State 
of California. 

Mr. Chase was earnestly opposed to any scheme of compro- 
mise, and following the lead of Mr. Benton had sought to keep 
the question of the admission of California free from complica- 
tion with other questions properly affecting slavery. He was 
opposed of course to the formation of a compromise committee. 
He could see no good result to come from it ; it would not in- 
spire confidence nor command respect. " I do not believe," he 
said, " that it will be esteemed in future times a creditable dis- 
tinction to have been, in the year of grace 1850, a member of 
any committee by whose intervention or by whose non-interven- 
tion free territory was subjected to the bhght of slavery." 

But the predominating temper of the Senate bore down all 
opposition, and a committee was ordered ; thirteen in number, 
all "conservatives" on the subject of slavery; six from the 
North and six from the South, with Mr. Clay as chairman. The 
committee was formed on the 19th of April and reported the 
result of its deliberations on the 8th of May, in a paper carefully 
and elaborately drawn, and covering all the points of controversy 
in detail. It submitted " views and recommendations " which 
embodied in substance the material parts of the resolutions of 
Mr. Clay offered on the 29th of January. The recommenda- 
tions of the committee were : 1. That when additional States — 
one or more — formed out of Texas, should apj)ly for admission 
into the Union, good faith would require that they should be 
admitted ; 2. That California should forthwith be admitted with 
the boundaries she had proposed ; 3. That territorial govern- 
ments should be established in Utah and Kew Mexico, without 
the Wilmot proviso, embracing all the territory not included in 
the boundaries of California ; 4. The combination of these two 
last-mentioned measures in one bill ; 5. The establishment of 
the western and northern boundary of Texas, and the exclusion 
from her jurisdiction of all 'New Mexico, with the grant to Texas 
of a pecuniary equivalent, and the section for that pm-pose to be 
incorporated in the bill admitting California and estabhshing 



110 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 

territorial govemments -for Utali and New Mexico ; 6. More 
effectual enactments of law to secure the prompt delivery of 
persons bomid to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
thereof, who escape into another State; T. Abstaining from 
abolishing slavery, but under a heavy penalty prohibiting the 
slave-trade in the District of Columbia. 

Upon the principal matters involved in tliis report, Mr. 
Chase had already, on the 26th and 27th of March, in a speech 
occupying a portion of each of those two days, stated his views 
at length, and with great care. He had rapidly sketched the 
rise of the American Government and the American Union, so 
far as their relations to American slavery were involved, from 
their origin in the association of 1774 to the establishment of 
the Constitution of 1787. " One spirit pervaded," he said, " and 
one principle controlled all the action of the framers of the 
republic — a spirit of profound reverence for the rights of man 
as man — the principle of the perfect equality of men before the 
law. 

"And what has been the result," he asked, "of the sub- 
version of the original policy of slavery restriction and discour- 
agement, and the substitution — in disregard of the letter and 
spirit of the Constitution — of the opposite policy ? Why, in- 
stead of six slave States — for I do not reckon among the slave 
States New York or New Jersey, in both of which emancipation 
was expected in 1787, and soon after actually took place — instead 
of six slave States we have fifteen ; instead of a majority of 
free States, we have an equal number of slave and free ; instead 
of seven hundred thousand slaves we have three millions ; in- 
stead of a property estimate of them at ten millions of dollars, 
we hear them rated at a thousand millions and even fifteen 
hundred millions ; instead of slavery being regarded as a cm'se, 
a reproach, a blight, an evil, a wrong, a sin, we are now told that 
it is the most stable foundation of our institutions ; the happiest 
relation that labor can sustain to capital ; a blessing to both 
races, black and white, and to the master and the slave. 

" This is a great and a sad change. If it goes on, the spirit 
of liberty must at length be extinguished, and a despotism will 
be formed under the forms of free institutions." ^ 

' He here paid a beautiful tribute to the memory of Thomas Jefferson : " I do 



COMPROMISE MEASUEES OF 1850. m 

He denied tlie doctrine that an equilibrium between tlie 
slaveliolding and tlie non-slavebolding sections of the country, 
at any time liad been or at any time should be an approved 
f eatm-e of our political system. The doctrine was a recent one ; 
never thought of till we began to create slave States acquired 
from foreign powers. It was alien to the original policy of 
the Government, and inconsistent with the interests and the 
duty of the country. Nor was it true, either, that slavery and 
freedom were entitled to equal regard in the administration of 
the Government. " The argument is, that the States are equal ; 
that each State has an equal right with every other State to de- 
termine for itself what shall be the character of its domestic in- 
stitutions, and therefore that every right acquired under the laws 

not know," he said, " that any monument has been erected over the grave of 
Jefferson." 

Mr. Mason, of Virginia, said that there had been — a granite obelisk. 

" I am glad to hear it," said Mr. Chase ; " no monumental marble bears a noblor 
name." 

Mr. Seward said : " The inscription is, '■Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author 
of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious 
Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.'' " 

" It is an appropriate inscription," said Mr. Chase, " and worthily commemorates 
distinguished services. But if a stranger from some foreign land should ask me for 
the monument of Jefferson, I could not take him to Virginia and bid him look on a 
granite obelisk, however admirable in its proportions or its inscriptions. I would 
ask him to go with me beyond the AUeghanies, into the midst of the broad North- 
west, and would say to him — 

' Si monumentum quaeris, circumspice ! ' 
' Behold, sir, on every side his monument ! These thronged cities, these flourishing 
villages, these cultivated fields ; these million happy homes of prosperous freemen ; 
these churches, these schools, these asylums for the unfortunate and the helpless ; 
these institutions of educaition, religion and humanity ; — these great States — great 
in their present resources, but greater far in the mighty energies by which the re- 
sources of the future are to be developed : these, these are the monuments of 
Jefferson. His memorial is over all our Western land : 

* Our veriest rill, our mightiest river, 
Roll migling with his fame forever.' 

" But what monument," he asked, " should be erected to those whose mis- 
applied talents, energy and perseverance, have procured, or whose compromising 
timidity has permitted, the reversal of the policy of Jefferson ? What inscription 
should commemorate the acts of those who have surrendered vast territories to 
slavery ; who have disappointed the expectations of the fathers of the repubUc ; 
who have prepared for our country the dangers and difficulties which are now around 
and upon us ? It is not for me to say what that inscription should be." 



112 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of any State must be protected and enforced in tlie national 
Territories as in the States whose laws conferred it. But the 
argument does not warrant the conclusion. It is true that the 
States are entirely and absolutely equal ; it -is true that each 
State, except where restrained by constitutional provisions, may 
form its domestic institutions according to its own pleasure, — 
but it is not true that every right derived from State law can 
be carried beyond the State into the Territories or elsewhere ; 
— it is not true, for example, that if a State chooses to authorize 
slaveholding within its limits, Congress is therefore bound to 
authorize slaveholding in the Territories. It is no more true 
than that a bank, chartered by the laws of a particular State, 
would have a right under that law to establish branches in the 
Territories, although the national Government might be con- 
stitutionally incompetent to legalize banking. Slavery depends 
entirely for its existence and continuance on the local law. Be- 
yond the sphere of the operation of such law, no man can be 
compeEed to submit to the condition of a slave, except by mere 
unauthorized force." 

It was in the light of these general principles that he pro- 
ceeded to consider the matters involved in the resolutions of 
Mr, Clay of the 29th of January. He protested against coup- 
ling the question of the admission of California with other 
questions, and declared his opposition to the appointment of the 
committee to submit a plan of compromise. He objected to the 
postponement of the admission of the new State, that territorial 
biUs for the organization of Utah and E'ew Mexico might have 
precedence. The country would regard such postponement as a 
concession to the demand for the extension of slavery into free 
Territories. The design was palpable enough. ISTo such con- 
cession would ever receive the sanction of his vote. "With re- 
spect to the admission of new States to be formed out of Texas, 
and the adjustment of the Texan boundary and the assumption 
by the United States of the Texan debt, he thought those ques- 
tions had been brought prematurely into the discussion; that 
whatever might be the true construction of the resolutions of 
annexation (of Texas), or their obligatory force under the con- 
stitution, there was no necessity to be immediately active in 
carving a new State out of Texas ; and that there was no great 



COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1S50. 113 

reason for apprehension tliat Texas would soon propose to 
divide herself if Congress did not meddle with the matter. As 
for the Texan debt, he preferred to leave that where the resolu- 
tions of annexation left it — with Texas. 

Three other propositions Mr. Chase considered together. 
These were : 1. That slavery in the District of Columbia ought 
not to be abolished, except with the consent of the people of the 
District and of Maryland ; 2. That the slave-trade in the Dis- 
trict ought to be aboHshed ; 3. That Congress had no power to 
prohibit the slave-trade among the States. 

In the first proposition he could not concur. " I have already 
said that in my judgment the Constitution confers on Congress 
no power to enforce the absolute subjection of one man to the 
disposal of another man as property. It is my opinion that all 
legislation adopted or enacted by Congress for eirforcing that 
condition ought to be repealed whether in this District or* else- 
where. I listened with great pleasure to the emphatic declara- 
tion of the Senator from Kentucky, in respect to the extension 
of slavery by Congress, that he would give no vote to propagate 
wrongs ! What wi'ongs ? Why, sir, those wrongs, multipUed 
and complicated, which are summed up in one word — Slavery. 
And where is the warrant for this comprehensive condemnation 
of slavery ? It is found in that Law — to assert the supremacy 
of which here seems to some so censurable — that law of sublimer 
origin and more awful sanction than any human code, wi-itten in 
ineffaceable characters upon every heart of man, which con- 
demns aU injustice and all oppression as a violation of that in- 
junction which commands us to do unto others as we would that 
others should do unto us. 

"If the Senator from Kentucky was right — and who did 
not feel that he was right ? — in saying that he would give 
no vote to proj>agate wrongs, am I not right in saying that I 
wiU give no vote to jperjpetuate wrongs ? — I will give no vote 
for the continuance of slavery in tliis District. . . . The power 
of exclusive legislation over the District is confided to us. We 
are bound to use it so as to establish justice and secure the bless- 
ings of liberty to all within its reach." 

He expressed it as his belief that Congress might constitu- 
tionally prohibit the slave-trade among the States. " And why 
8 



114 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

should not Congress prohibit this traffic ? We hear much of the 
cruelty of the African slave-trade. Our laws denounce against 
those engaged in it the punishment of death. Is it less cruel, 
less deserving of punishment, to tear fathers, mothers, children, 
from their homes and each other, in Maryland and Virginia, 
and transport them to the markets of Louisiana and Mississippi ? 
If there be a difference in cruelty and wrong, is it not in favor 
of the African and against the American slave-trade ? Why, 
then, should we be guilty of the inconsistency of abolishing that 
by the sternest prohibition, and continuing this under the sanc- 
tion of national law ? " 

Touching the proposition to make more effectual provision 
for the extradition of fugitive slaves, he inquired where in the 
Constitution power was conferred upon Congress to legislate 
on the subject ? " I know," he said, " to what clause I shall be 
referred. I know I shall be told that ' no person held to service 
or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, shall, in conse- 
quence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the 
party to whom said service or labor may be due.' But this 
clause contains no grant of legislative power to Congress. . . . 
The clause is one of compact ; and if this opinion be correct, the 
power of legislation and the duty of legislation must be with 
the States, and not with Congress." 

When Mr. Butler asked, " if some of the States refused to 
pass laws to comply with the obligation of the compact, where 
the remedy was % " Mr. Chase answered distinctly and without 
equivocation, that he knew of no remedy where a State re- 
fused to perform the stipulation. "The obligation of the 
compact, and the extent of the compact are, as in every 
other case of treaty stipulation, matters which address them- 
selves exclusively to the good faith and sound judgment of 
the parties to it. ... I repeat that the clause in relation 
to -fugitives from labor is a clause of compact. For many 
years after the adoption of the Constitution it was so regarded. 
It was not much discussed, and the limits of the respective 
powers of the State and Federal Governments under it were 
not very accurately settled. But nearly all the States legis- 
lated under it, and provided such methods for the extradition of 



COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850. US 

fugitives as they deemed consistent with the security of the 
personal rights of their own citizens. . . . 

" But if it be granted that Congress has the power to legis- 
late, are we bound to exercise it? We have power, without 
question, to enact a bankrupt law, but no one proposes such a 
law ; and if proposed, no one would feel bound to vote for it 
siniply because we have power to enact it. We have power to 
declare war ; but to declare war without just cause, would be 
not a duty but a crime. The power to provide by law for the 
extradition of fugitives is not conferred by any express grant. 
We have it, if we have it at all, as an implied power, and the 
implication which gives it to us is, to say the least, remote and 
doubtful. We are not bound to exercise it. We are bound, 
indeed, 7iot to exercise it, unless with great caution and with 
careful regard, not merely to the alleged right sought to be 
secured, but to every other right which may be affected by it. 
Were the power as clear as the power to coin money or regulate 
commerce, still it should not be exercised to the prejudice of any 
right which the Constitution guarantees. We are not prepared, 
I hope, and I trust we never shall be prepared, to give the sanc- 
tion of the American Senate to the bill and the amendments 
now upon our table — a bill which authorizes and requires the 
appointment of two hundred and sixty-one commissioners, and 
an indefinite number of other officers, to catch runaway slaves 
in the State of Ohio; which punishes humanity as a crime; 
which authorizes seizure without process, trial without a jury, 
and consignment to slavery beyond the limits of the State with- 
out opportunity of defense and upon ex-jjarte testimony. Cer- 
tainly no such bill can receive my vote." 

He argued at length the question of slavery in the Territo- 
ries, contending that the possibility of its entrance ought to be 
excluded by a positive prohibition. He paid some particular 
attention to the doctrine of Mr. Webster that physical law had 
excluded it from Utah and New Mexico. " Is it true," he asked, 
" that any law of physical geography will protect the new Terri- 
tories from the curse of slavery ? Peonism was there under the 
Mexican law, and if peonism were not there to warn us what 
may be expected if slavery be not prohibited, could we, as rational 
legislators, find an excuse in the physical circumstances of the 



IIQ LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

country for abandoning the [Wilmot] proviso ? It is said to be 
' Asiatic in formation and scenery.' Are there no slaves in Asia ? 
But the soil is cultivated by ' irrigation.' Well, will this fact, if 
it be a fact, that the sun shines from a cloudless sky, and waters 
to refresh the earth must be drawn from the streams which 
snow-capped hills supply : will this exclude slavery ? But the 
lands are poor. Sir, who knows that ? Much of the vast region 
over which we are to extend territorial government is wholly 
unexplored. In other parts there is, as everywhere else, good 
land and poor land. Certainly there are mines, and in no em- 
ployment has slave-labor been more commonly or more profitably 
used. Let us take care that we do not deceive ourselves, or mis- 
lead others. Neither soil, nor climate, nor physical formation, 
nor degrees of latitude, wiU exclude slavery from any country. 
Can any gentleman name a degree of latitude beyond which 
slavery has not gone, or any description of country to which it 
has not, at some time, found access ? " 

He concluded thus : " Honesty is the best policy ; justice the 
highest expediency ; and principle the only proper basis of union 
in a political organization. Holding fast as I do to democratic 
principles ; believing firmly that aU men are created equal, and 
are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights to life and 
liberty, I desire to see those principles carried out boldly, ear- 
nestly, resolutely, in the practical administration of affairs. I 
wish to see the powers of this Government exercised for the 
great objects which the Constitution indicates — for the perfec- 
tion of our Union; for the establishment of justice; for the 
common defense ; for the security of hberty. 

• • • • " We of the West are in the habit of looking upon 
the Union as we look upon the arch of heaven, without a thought 
that it can ever decay or faU. With equal reverence we regard 
the great Ordinance of Freedom, under whose benign influence, 
within httle more than half a century, a wilderness has been 
converted into an empire. Onio, the eldest born of the Consti- 
tution and the Ordinance, cleaves and will cleave faithfully to 
both. And now that the time has come when vast accessions 
of free territoiy demand the application of those principles of 
the Ordinance, to which she is indebted for her prosperity and 
power, to guard them against the blighting influence of slavery, 



COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850. II7 

she will insist that the same protection shall be extended to the 
Territories which was extended to her. 

" Nor are these the sentiments of Ohio alone. They are the 
sentiments of the people throughout the free States. Here and 
there the arts or the fears of politicians or capitalists may sup- 
press their utterance — but they live and will live in the hearts 
of the masses. There is no great and real change in those 
opinions and convictions which placed a majority pledged to 
free soil in the other wing of the Capitol. It may be, however, 
that you will succeed here in sacrificing the claims of freedom 
by some settlement carried through the forms of legislation. 
But the people will unsettle your settlement. It may be that 
you will determine that the Territories shall not be secured by 
law against the ingress of slavery. The people will reverse your 
determination. It may be that you will succeed in burying the 
Ordinance of Freedom. But the people will write upon its 
tomb, Resurgam — ' I shall rise again ' — and the same history 
which records its resurrection may also inform posterity that 
they who fancied they had killed the proviso, had only com- 
mitted political suicide." 



CHAPTEK XIY. 



BILLS SUBMITTED BY THE SENATE COaEVIITTEE OF THERTEEISr NON- 
INTERVENTION WITH SLAVERY IN THE TERKITOKIES JEFFER- 
SON DAVIS'S PROPOSmON-^ COUNTER -PROPOSITION BY MR. 

CHASE SPEECH OF MR. CHASE ON THE SUBJECT THE TEXAS 

BOUNDARY FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT OF 1850 MR. CHASe's OP- 
POSITION TO IT ADOPTION OF THE COMPROMISE OF 1850 

" A COMPLETE AND FINAL ADJUSTMENT " ^MR. SUMNEr's 

ADVENT INTO THE SENATE INTRODUCTION BY MR. DOUGLAS 

OF THE BILL ORGANIZING A TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT IN 
NEBRASKA. 

THE Senate committee of tliirteen, along with tlieir report, 
submitted bills designed to carry into eifect their several 
recommendations — alleging at the same time that they " bad 
endeavored to present a comprehensive plan of adjustment, which, 
removing all causes of existing excitement and agitation, leaves 
none to divide the country and disturb the general harmony." 

The accompanying bills were really six in number — 1. For the 
admission of California ; 2. For the organization of a territorial 
government in Utah ; 3. For the organization of a territorial gov- 
ernment in New Mexico ; and 4. Establishing the boundaries of 
Texas — these four different measures being included, however, 
in one bill of thirty-nine sections. A fifth made further pro- 
vision for the return of fugitive slaves, and the sixth abolished 
the slave-trade in the District of Columbia. 

Slavery in Utah and 'New Mexico was thus disposed of in 
the bills organizing those Territories : " The legislative power 
of the Territory shall extend to all rightful subjects of legisla- 



SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORIES. Hg 

tion consistent witli the Constitution of the United States and 
tlie provisions of this act ; but no law shall be passed interfer- 
ing with the primary disposal of the soil, nor in respect to Afri- 
can slavery." " It will be observed," said the committee, " that 
the bill for establishing these two Territories omits the Wilmot 
proviso on the one hand, and on the other makes no provision 
for the introduction of slavery into any part of them. That 
proviso has been the fruitful source of distraction and agitation. 
If it were adopted and applied to any Territory, it would cease 
to have any obligatory force so soon as such Territory were 
admitted as a State into the Union .... The true principle 
which ought to regulate the action of Congress in forming ter- 
ritorial governments for each newly-acqmred domain is to 
refrain from all legislation on the subject in the Territory 
acquii'ed, so long as it retains the territorial form of govern- 
ment — leaving it to people of such Territory, when they have 
attained to a condition which entitles them to admission as a 
State, to decide for themselves the question of the allowance or 
prohibition of domestic slavery." 

Leading Southern Senators were unwilling, however, to 
acquiesce in these views and recommendations of Mr. Clay and 
his associates ; but sought a distinct recognition of the right to 
hold slaves in the new Territories. Mr. Jefferson Davis pro- 
posed to so amend the committee's bill as to prevent the terri- 
torial Legislature from " passing any law interfering with rights 
of property growing out of the institution of African slavery as 
it exists in any of the States of this Union." This was a bold 
and sufficiently plain proposition ; but it became almost imme- 
diately apparent that it could not command a majority of the 
Senators. The powerful voice of Mr. Clay was promptly 
against it. " I cannot vote," he said, " to convert a Territory 
already free into a slave Territory." 

Mr. Jefferson Davis proposed to modify his proposition, aiid 
moved as an amendment, "that nothing contained in the bill 
should be construed to prevent the territorial Legislature from 
passing such laws as may be necessary for the protection of 
rights of property of any kind which may have been or may 
be hereafter, conformably to the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, held in or introduced into such Territory." 



120 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

This amendment covered the doctrine of "non-interven- 
tion," as Mr. Davis said, though at the same time he alleged 
that by the adoption of it the Senate would recognize — by 
strong implication at least — the existence of slavery in the Ter- 
ritories ; that at any rate it would recognize the constitutional 
right of slaveholders to carry their slaves into the Territories 
and hold them there, and enjoy the fruits of their labor ; rather 
a remarkable kind of non-intervention. And upon this projDo- 
sition, susceptible of such a construction, Mr. Davis said he 
sought a distinct expression of sentiment on the part of all the 
Senators. 

Mr. Chase said he felt it exceedingly desirable to have some 
proposition to vote upon which should have the same meaning 
in all parts of the country, which was not the case with that of 
the Senator from Mississippi. Some Senators agreed with the 
author in his conclusion touching its import, and some denied 
it. He wished to exclude that conclusion, and offered an 
amendment which he thought would effect that purpose, and 
upon which he desired a vote. His amendment provided, " that 
nothing contained in the act should be construed as authorizing 
or permitting the introduction of slavery or the holding of per- 
sons as property in the said Territory." 

Several Senators, in a breath, declared this to be nothing 
other than the "Wilmot proviso. 

" It is not the Wilmot proviso," said Mr. Chase. " The bill 
reported by the committee contained an express prohibition of 
territorial legislation in respect to African slavery. It so hap- 
pens that hardly any two Senators who have spoken on the sub- 
ject of that prohibition have agreed as to its import, and it was 
for the pui'pose of fixing a construction that the Senator from 
Mississippi offered his amendment, which provides that the ter- 
ritorial Legislature shall neither introduce nor exclude slavery, 
but shall have power to legislate for the protection of property 
of every kind which may be introduced or held conformably to 
the Constitution and laws of the United States. 

" "What does this language mean ? Shall we advance a sin- 
gle step toward a clear and unambiguous declaration of legisla- 
tive intention if we adopt this amendment ? Undoubtedly the 
intent would be clear enough if we all agreed that the terms 



COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850. 121 

property of every hind held within or hrought into the Terri- 
tories in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the 
United States, included property in slaves. But we are not so 
agreed," and he had offered an amendment which met and neg- 
atived the proposition of Mr. Davis, " that the right to carry 
slaves into the Territory, and hold and dispose of them there, is 
covered and secured either by the Senator's amendment or by 
the original clause as reported by the committee. Those Sena- 
tors who think that under the original provision of the bill or 
under the amendment, slaves may be introduced into the Terri- 
tory or persons held there as property — who see nothing unde- 
sirable in that result — will of com*se vote against my restrictive 
proposition. But I do not see how any Senator can refuse to 
vote for it, who holds the opinion — frequently expressed here 
— that neither the original clause nor the amendment of the 
Senator from Mississippi, when rightly construed, will warrant 
slavery in the Territories, or who is unwilhng to see slavery 
established there as the effect and result of legislation here. 
Such a vote will only give expression and effect to the professed 
wish and purpose of such a Senator. It will not be a vote for 
the prohibition of slavery in the Territories. It will be a vote 
that slavery shall not be established there by the bill or the 
amendment, under a construction which many Senators insist 
upon as the true one, and which — there is some reason to feel 
— may be held to be the true one by the judiciary as now con- 
stituted." 

The debate which followed upon this proposed amendment 
of Mr. Chase to the amendment of Mr. Davis — participated in 
by Clay, Webster, Cass, Davis, Douglas, and others — was impor- 
tant, as fixing the sense in which the committee's clause on 
slavery, in the territorial bills, was interpreted by Senators. 
Mr. Dougla '■ expressed the prevailing sentiment. Said that Sen- 
ator : " He " (alluding to Mr. Jefferson Da\as) " desires an amend- 
ment which he thinks will recognize the institution of slavery 
in the new Territories as it is now existing in this country. I do 
not believe that it exists there now by law. I believe it is pro- 
hibited by law there at this time, and the effect if not the object 
of his amendment would be to introduce slavery by law into a 
country from which I think a large majority of this Senate are 



122 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of opinion it is now excluded, and lie calls upon us to introduce 
it there. The Senator from Kentucky, who brought forward 
this compromise, tells us that ' he never can give a vote by which 
he will introduce slavery where it does not exist.' Other Sena- 
tors have declared the same thing, to an extent which authorizes 
us to assmne that a majority of this Senate will never extend 
slavery by law into territory now free." 

The question on the adoption of the amendment of Mr. 
Chase showed twenty-five Senators in its favor and thirty against 
it — among the latter Mr. Douglas and Mr. Webster. The amend- 
ment of Mr. Davis met a like fate — twenty-five Senators voting 
aye and thirty voting no. 

Touching the Texas boundary question, Mr. Chase declared 
that he had no disposition to take from Texas a foot nor an inch 
which rightfully belonged to her ; " but I have regarded from 
the beginning," he said, " this question of boundary as one to be 
adjusted — since the United States now stands in the place of 
Mexico — ^by some fair and competent tribimal. I have been 
willing to leave it to commissioners, and have voted for proposi- 
tions intended to effect that object. I have been willing to com- 
mit its decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and 
it seemed to me that — organized as we all know that court to 
be — ^nothing more than this could be desired by the advocates 
of the Texas claim. Certainly the absence of all bias against 
the claim on the part of that tribunal will not be doubted. If 
neither of these modes of terminating the dispute should prove 
acceptable to Texas, I would — for one — consent cheerfully to 
refer the whole matter to the arbitrament of intelligent and dis- 
interested individuals, whether Americans or foreigners. But 
in either case the question submitted should be the question of 
boundary, to be determined as a matter of law and fact, upon 
the acknowledged principles applicable to such cases." * 

' The claim on behalf of Texas was, that all the territory lying north and east 
of the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source, belonged to her by a " good legal 
title, acquired previous to her admission into the Union, and rested not only upon 
the right of revolution, exercised at the time of the revolt against Mexico, but upon 
treaty stipulations also, and was therefore a part of the original territory." 

The territory thus claimed to belong to Texas was of an average width of one 
himdred miles throughout its whole area, and was nearly two thousand miles long, 
and contained within its bosom some twenty populous towns and villages, whose 



PUGITIYE SLAVE ACT. 123 

Mr. Chase's opposition to tlie fugitive slave bill of Mr. Ma- 
son (for the bill reported by the committee of ttiirteen received 
little or no consideration) was very earnest. 

The bill of Mr. Mason contained some extraordinary f eatm'es, 
as a brief recapitulation will show : 

It provided for the appointment of not more than three 
commissioners in each county in the United States and in the 
organized Territories/ who were authorized to administer oaths, 
examine witnesses, and hear and determine all cases arising 
under the provisions of the act itself, relating to the arrest and 
return of fugitive slaves, concurrent with the jurisdiction con- 
ferred by the act upon the judges of the Circuit and District 
Com-ts of the United States, severally and collectively, in term- 
time and vacation ; and to grant certificates under authority of 
which fugitive slaves might be removed out of the State by 
their claimants. The marshals and deputy-marshals of United 
States courts were put at the command of these commissioners, 
and in addition they were authorized to appoint any number of 
" suitable persons " to exjecute the warrants and processes issued 
by them in pm-suance of the act ; and authority was conferred 
upon the commissioners and the " suitable persons " appointed 
by them, to summon and call to their aid the by-standers, or 
posse comitatus of the proper county, when necessary to insure a 
faithful observance of the clause of the Constitution referred to 
(that touching the delivery of fugitives from labor or service) ; 
" and all good citizens are hereby commanded to aid and assist 
in the prompt and efficient execution of this law, whenever their 

people — as the opponents of Texas alleged — had never seen a Texan officer nor 
obeyed any other than Mexican laws. These opponents claimed further, that all 
this vast and important country had been conquered by the armies of the United 
States, and that the United States had acquired title to it by paying to Mexico its 
full value in money. 

It is historically true, no doubt, that Texas had never exercised undisputed acts of 
sovereignty in that territory, but she had asserted her claim to its sovereignty under 
circumstances of great and tragic interest. 

The question of the right to this immense extent of country was one of deep 
interest in its relations to the pending struggle on the subject of slavery. Texas 
asserted her claim even to the point of raising an army to enforce it as against the 
United States, though at the same moment the United States were supporting an 
army upon her frontier for the protection of her people against the Indians. 

' This was the provision in the bill originally presented in the Senate, January 
4, 1850, but afterward modified as to the number of the commissioners. 



124 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

services may be required." The claimant was authorized to 
pursue and seize fugitives either upon a duly-issued process or 
without process, where that could be done; and upon being 
taken before a court or commissioner, it became the duty of that 
officer to hear and determine the case in a summary manner, 
and upon satisfactory proof of the identity of the fugitive and 
that the alleged service or labor was really owing, to issue to the 
claimant a certificate setting forth the facts, and authorizing the 
claimant to use the force proper and necessary to remove the 
fugitive ; this certificate to be final and conclusive in all respects. 
And in no trial or hearing under the act was the testimony of 
the fugitive to be admitted in evidence. Any person who should 
knowingly or willingly obstruct, hinder, or prevent the arrest of 
a fugitive slave ; or who should rescue or attempt to rescue a 
fugitive slave ; or who should aid or abet or assist a fugitive 
slave, directly or indirectly, to escape ; or who should harbor or 
conceal a fugitive slave, so as to prevent . discovery or arrest of 
such fugitive slave, after notice or knowledge that the person was 
a fugitive slave — was to be subject to a fine not exceeding one 
thousand dollars and unprisonment not exceeding six months ; 
and, moreover, was to forfeit and pay to the party losing the 
fugitive, by way of civil damages, the sum of one thousand dol- 
lars, precisely. The fees of the commissioner were to be ten 
dollars in each case where a certificate authorizing the removal 
of the fugitive was delivered to the claimant ; and only five dol- 
lars in cases where, in the opinion of the commissioner, the proof 
was not sufficient to warrant the delivery of such certificate. 

This bill was denounced in the North with great vehemence 
by journals and men of all parties, and by none more conspicu- 
ously than by Democratic newspapers in Ohio. It was declared 
to be an insult and a menace upon the Northern people ; that 
it transformed them from freemen into a nation of slave-catchers ; 
that it offered bribes to public officers; that it abrogated the 
right of trial by jury ; that it was a dangerous attack upon the 
personal liberty of every citizen of a free State ; that, in a word, 
it was a " bill of abominations." 

Mr. Chase opposed the bill with peculiar and persevering 
earnestness. " It seems to be taken for granted," he said with 
a good deal of bitterness, " that but one class of rights are to be 



FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT. 125 

regarded by us — tlie rights of masters. ... I do not believe 
tliat a slave-claimant can go into any State of tliis Union, and 
seize a person nnder the protection of its laws, and upon mere 
assertion that the person seized is a fugitive from ser\dce, carry 
him off without process by private force. I deny utterly that 
such a proceeding is warranted by the Constitution." He de- 
clared that such an enactment must lead to the most serious diffi- 
culties ; that it would stir up tumult ; that so far from making 
slave-property more secure, it would surely make it less so. 
This latter declaration Mr. Butler, of South Carolina, conceded 
to be true. He offered an amendment to the bill denying the 
right of reclamation in the Territories of the Union, and con- 
fining it to cases of escape from one State into another State. 
" If slaveholding is condemned by the law of ligature, as the de- 
cisions of the courts even of slave States declare it is ; if slavery 
is a local institution, created by State law and dependent upon 
State law for its continuance and existence, let us act upon this 
principle as if we believed in it, and declare that slavery cannot 
be extended beyond State jurisdiction, and deny to its support 
the power of the national Government in the Territories." For 
this amendment there was a solitary vote ; that of Mr. Chase 
himself ! and forty-one Senators voted against it — including 
Hamlin, afterward Yice-President of the United States, and 
Dayton, afterward minister to the court of France. He offered 
another amendment, the effect of which would be — if adopted — 
to admit a trial by jury upon the question whether an alleged 
fugitive really owed service in another State. Clahns of right 
in the services of individuals found under the protection of the 
laws of a free State, he declared, ought to be investigated in the 
same manner as other claims of right, and the defense to the 
claim to the custody and service of any man ought to be as free 
from embarrassment as any other defense against any other 
claim. " If the most ordinary controversy," he said, " involving 
a contested claim to twenty dollars must be decided by a jury, 
•surely a controversy which involves the right of a man to his 
liberty, should have a similar trial." But of course his amend- 
ment was rejected, and in a very summary way too. 

At last all the measures recommended by the committee be- 
came laws, though not in the forms in which they were recom- 



126 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

mended. Tliey were intended to compose tlie whole slavery agita- 
tion ; to be a complete and final adjustment of all tlie questions 
growing out of the subject. A number of the friends of the 
measures signed a compact, pledging themselves to vote for no 
man for any office who would in any way renew the agitation. 
Among these were Henry Clay, Howell Cobb, Alaxander H. 
Stephens, Robert Toombs, and Humphrey Marshall. 

The first session of the Thirty-first Congress ended on the 
30th day of September, 1850, after ten months of continu- 
ous and exciting labors; and five-sixths of the whole session 
was devoted to the consideration and discussion of the slavery 
question in some one of its various phases — a portentous fact, 
showing how full of dangers the subject was and how difficult 
it was to compose them. 

. . . There was veiy little discussion of the slavery question 
during the whole of the Thirty-second Congress. Some me- 
morials were presented, praying the repeal of the fugitive slave 
law, but of course no action was had in that direction. 

Mr. Sumner took his seat in the Senate at the beginning of 
this Congress, and signalized his advent by a powerful speech in 
advocacy of the immediate repeal of the fugitive slave act. His 
speech occasioned a profound sensation among Senators, and was 
variously characterized. Mr. Badger, of ]^orth Carolina, said 
it was the most extraordinary speech ever heard in the Senate ; 
Mr. Douglas said it was an assault upon the Constitution ; Mr. 
Weller, of California, said it counseled to murder ; Mr. Chase 
said it marked an era in American history. "It would dis- 
tinguish the day when the advocates of that theory of govern- 
mental policy and constitutional construction," which, he said, 
Mr. Sumner had so ably defended, " no longer content to stand 
on the defensive in the contest with slaveiy, boldly attacked the 
very citadel of its power, in attacking that doctrine of Jmality, 
which two of the political parties of the country, through their 
national organizations, were attempting to establish as the im- 
pregnable defense of its usurpations," 

A strong effort was made to organize a territorial govern- 
ment in ISTebraska. A bill passed the House for that purpose. 
It contained no prohibition of slavery, but received the support 
of antislavery members because they believed that slavery was 



FUGITIVE SLAVE ACT. 137 

excluded from the Territory by operation of tlie Missouri Compro- 
mise Act. On tlie last night of the second session — March 3, 
1853 — Mr. Douglas moved in the Senate to take np this bill. 
He said that for eight years he had been pressing it, beginning 
when he was in the House of Representatives ; that it was very 
dear to his heart, and of immense magnitude and of great im- 
port to the country. Of its infinite great magnitude and import 
to the country how little the Senator then knew ! But his mo- 
tion was not successful. In the course of a very brief debate 
upon it, Mr. Atchison, a pro-slavery Senator from Missouri — 
afterward notorious for his participation in the border-wars of 
Kansas — made an important statement. One of his objections 
to the bill was, he said, that under it the Compromise of 1820 
— the Missouri restriction upon slavery extension — would be 
operative unless especially rescinded ; and of that there was no 
hope or prospect. He declared the Missomi Compromise to 
have been a great eiTor, for which, however, there was no rem- 
edy and to which the South must submit. 



CHAPTEE XY. 

"the era of slave-hunting" SECOND SESSION OF THE THIRTY- 
SECOND CONGRESS ^MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS 

OF THE WHIG AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES EST 1852 THEIR DEC- 
LARATIONS AND NOMINATIONS MR. CHASE's LETTER TO B. F. 

BUTLER, OF NEW YORK ^ACTION OF THE NEW YORK DEMOC- 
RACY THE VIEWS OF MR. CHASE TOUCHING THAT ACTION 

NATIONAL FREE-SOIL CONVENTION AT PITTSBURG ITS PLAT- 
FORM THE ELECTION OF GENERAL PIERCE ^FORECAST OF THE 

FUTURE. 

THE compromise measures of 1850 were promptly fol- 
lowed by what has been aptly called " the era of slave-hunt- 
ing." The enforcement of the fugitive slave act was marked by 
much excitement and some not serious disorder in Northern 
States; but enough to make the act peculiarly obnoxious to 
many others than the antislavery agitators. While there was 
a general and perhaps decided acquiescence in the compromise, 
this particular feature of it kept alive irritation, and counter- 
acted, at least partially, the influence of the scheme of adjust- 
ment as a whole. The capture of " Shadrach " at Boston, and 
his rescue by some friends of his own race and color, were the 
occasion of a real excitement ; a good deal intensified by the 
action of the President (Mr. Fillmore), who issued a proclama- 
tion, calling on the people to be active and vigilant in enforcing 
the laws, meaning of course the fugitive slave law very partic- 
ularly ; while the Secretaries of "War and of the 'Nslyj fulmi- 
nated general orders, addressed to the military and naval branches 



NATIONAL CONVENTIONS OF 1852. 129 

of the public service, cliarging officers and men to be ready at 
their several posts of duty to aid in catching fugitives, which 
excited much indignation among the people. 

The second session of the Thirty-second Congress was not 
important in any action upon the slavery question. Mr. Fill- 
more communicated a message to the Senate devoted to the 
fugitive slave law, which grew out of the case of Shadi'ach; 
there were a great many petitions presented for the repeal of 
that law, and some discussion upon them, but no action ; and a 
resolution proposing an inquiry into the propriety of paying 
the Spanish claimants in the case of the Amistad slave-ship, 
was introduced by Mr. Mason, of Yirginia, and opposed by Mr. 
Chase. These, and some discussion upon a proposal of Mr. 
Clay to make more effectual provision for the suppression of the 
African slave-trade, constituted about the smn total of the 
slavery agitation dming the session. 

The compromise measures had been supported by almost the 
entire body of the Democratic party in Congress, though opposed 
by a majority of the Ohio representatives, and had been almost 
universally denounced by the Democratic press of that State. 
For a time it seemed possible that they might be repudiated 
by the IS'orthem Democrats. 

But when the l^ational Convention of the party met on the 
1st of June, 1852, for the nomination of candidates for President 
and Yice-President, it became speedily apparent that no such 
hope was to be realized. The convention strongly denounced 
any efforts of the abolitionists, or of others, to induce Congress 
to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps 
on the subject, as calculated to lead to the most alarming and 
dangerous consequences. It declared that the Democratic party 
would abide by and adhere to a faithful execution of the acts 
known as the compromise measures of 1850 — including the fugi- 
tive slave act ; which act " being designed to cany out an express 
provision of the Constitution, cannot, with fidehty thereto, be 
repealed, nor so changed as to destroy or impair its efficiency." 
It was solemnly declared, finally, " that the Democratic party 
will resist all attempts at renewing in Congress or out of it, the 
agitation of the slavery question, under whatever shape or color 
it may be made." 
9 



130 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Tlie nominations of tliis convention were — for President, 
Franklin Pierce, of New HampsLiire ; for Yice-President, "Wil- 
liam E.. King, of Alabama. 

A few days later — on the 16tli of June ' — the Wliigs also 
met in national comicil. Upon the slaveiy question thej took 
substantially the same ground as, if not even stronger and more 
emphatic than, the Democracy. They resolved that " the series of 
acts known as the compromise measures of 1850 — the act known 
as the fugitive slave law included — are received and acquiesced 
in by the "Whig party of the United States as a settlement, 
in principle and substance, of the dangerous and exciting ques- 
tions which they embrace ; and, so far as they are concerned, we 
will maintain them and insist on their strict enforcement, until 
time and experience shall demonstrate the necessity of further 
legislation to guard against the evasion of the laws on the one 
hand, and the abuse of their powers on the other — not impair- 
ing their present eflficiency ; and we deprecate all f m-ther agita- 
tion of the question thus settled, as dangerous to our peace, and 
will discountenance all efforts to continue or renew such agita- 
tion whenever, wherever or however the attempt may be made ; 
and we will maintain this system as essential to the nationality 
of the Whig party and the integrity of the Union." 

General Winfield Scott was nominated for President and 
William A. Graham, of North Carolina, for Yice-President. 

The candidates of both parties professed prompt and zealous 
adhesion to the platforms presented for their acceptance ; and 
one of them became an itinerant solicitor, in his own behalf and 
that of the party whose standard-bearer he was, for the popular 
suffrages. 

Mr. Chase interpreted these platforms and nominations to 
mean resistance not to pro-slavery, but to antislavery agitation. 
He did not long hesitate as to the course he ought to pursue. 
He addressed a letter to Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, one 
of his associates in the great work of the Buffalo Convention, 
declaring his determination to adhere to the principles announced' 
there, and to act with the only party faithful to those principles ; 
that is, with the Independent Democracy, who had continued to 
maintain their organization, and had called a National Convention 

' Both the Democratic and Whig Conventions were held in Baltimore. 



FREE-SOIL NATIONAL CONVENTION, 1852. 131 

to meet at Pittsburg on the lltli of August — and he earnestly 
urged Mr. Butler, and through Mr. Butler those Democrats who 
had acted with him at Buffalo, to maintain the ground they had 
there taken. 

" I shall ever lament," says Mr. Chase, in one of the Trow- 
bridge letters, " that tliis appeal was not heeded. The party of 
freedom had given in 1840, while unorganized, one vote in every 
three hundred and fifty of the votes cast in the United States. 
In 1844, it had given one vote in every forty-four, and in 1848, 
it had given one vote in ten and almost one in nine. This, it 
must be remembered, was the proportion in the free States of 
the whole vote of the United States. The proportion in the free 
States, considered by themselves, must of course have been much 
larger. It cannot be doubted, I think, that had the New York 
Democracy in 1852 adhered to the principles avowed in 1848, 
and refused to support the Baltimore nominations upon a plat- 
form repugnant to the sentiments and convictions of a large ma- 
jority of the ISTorthern people, a vote would have been given to 
the nominees of the Independent Democracy which, if not suf- 
ficient to elect its candidates, would have insured the election of 
General Scott, and the consequent union of nearly the whole 
Democratic party, in the course of the following year, upon the 
principles of the Independent Democracy. The Democracy of 
the Union — united upon those principles — would have been in- 
vincible ; and slavery, excluded from the Territories, would have 
been amehorated, diminished, and finally abolished by State ac- 
tion. The rebellion, in all probability, would have been avoided, 
and the Union would have been preserved unbroken, and pre- 
served not for slavery but for freedom. I took gi-eat pains to 
explain these views to many, and a good deal of apprehension 
was manifested by certain slave-State Senators lest they should 
be adopted." 

The Free-Soilers met at Pittsburg, and nominated for Presi- 
dent John P. Hale and for Vice-President George W. Julian. 
They adopted a platform of unequivocal hostihty to slavery ex- 
tension, in favor of slavery restriction, and in emphatic denuncia- 
tion of the fugitive slave law. They declared the true " mission 
of American Democracy to be, to maintain the liberties of the 
people, the sovereignty of the States, and the pei-petuity of the 



132 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

TJnioii, by the impartial application to public affairs, without sec- 
tional discrimination, of the fundamental principles of equal 
rio-bts, strict justice and economical administration. That to the 
importunate and persevering demands of the slave-power for 
more slave States, new slave Territories, and tbe nationalization 
of slavery, our distinct and final answer is — ^no more slave States, 
no more slave Territory, no nationalized slavery, and no national 
leoislation for tbe extradition of slaves." Tbe fugitive slave act 
was denounced as repugnant to tbe Constitution, to tbe princi- 
ples of tbe common law, to tbe spirit of Cbristianity, and to tbe 
sentiments of tbe civilized world. Tbey demanded its immedi- 
ate and unconditional repeal. Tbey declared tbe doctrine tbat 
any buman law is a finality and not subject to modification or 
repeal, as not in accordance witb tbe creed of tbe founders 
of tbe government and dangerous to tbe liberties of tbe peo- 
ple. Tbey denounced tbe payment of ten millions to Texas ; 
and declared tbat tbere could be no permanent settlement of 
tbe slavery question, except in tbe practical recognition of tbe 
trutb tbat slavery was sectional and freedom national, by tbe 
total separation of tbe Federal Government from slavery, and 
tbe exercise of its legitimate and constitutional influence on tbe 
side of freedom, and by leaving to tbe States tbe wbole subject 
of slavery, including tbe extradition of fugitives from service. 

Upon tbese views of tbe question of slavery, tbe free De- 
mocracy appealed to tbe people of tbe country for support. 

Tbe ]^ew York Democrats did not respond either to tbe per- 
sonal appeal of Mr. Chase or to the united voice of tbe Pittsburg 
Convention, but almost unanimously went to the support of Gen- 
eral Pierce, who was elected of course. Their defection, and that 
of those influenced by their example m other States, reduced the 
vote of tbe Independent Democrats from 291,678 in 1848 to 
157,296 in 1852 ; or about one in twenty of tbe whole votes cast. 
!N'ear three-f om-ths of the entire defection was in New York. In 
Ohio the vote for Hale in 1852 was about four thousand less 
than for Yan Buren in 1848 ; Yan Buren's vote having been 
35,354 ; Hale's was 31,682, and tbe Old-line Democracy carried 
the State. 

Tbe agreement of tbe two old parties upon substantially tbe 
same platform, and tbe election of General Pierce, devolved up- 



POLITICAL PROBABILITIES. 133 

on tlie Democratic party tlie wliole responsibility of tliat plat- 
form. The reorganization of parties became inevitable, and as 
tbe platform of tbe Independent Democrats alone represented 
antagonism to tbe invasions of slavery, it became certain also 
that the principles of that party must form the basis of oppo- 
sition to the Administration, which in the logic of events would 
inevitably be driven into new concessions to the slave-power. 



CHAPTER XYI. 

MEETING OF THE THIRTY-THIBD CONGRESS IN DECE3IBEE, 1853 — EX- 

TKACT FROM THE MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT PIERCE PLEDGES 

HIMSELF IN BEHALF OF THE QUIET AND HARMONY OF THE 

COUNTRY ^NEBRASKA BILL INTRODUCED INTO THE SENATE BY 

MR. DOUGLAS EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT WHICH ACCOM- 
PANIED THE BILL REPEAL OF MISSOURI RESTRICTION PROPOSED 

BY MR. DIXON, OF KENTUCKY MR. SUMNEr's COUNTER-PROPO- 
SITION — DENUNCIATIONS BY THE " WASHINGTON UNION " OF THE 

AMENDMENTS OF SENATORS DIXON AND SUMNER " THE SOUTH 

WIND THICK WITH STORM " ME. DOUGLAS PROPOSES THE RE- 
PEAL OF THE MISSOURI RESTRICTION MODIFICATION OF THE 

ALLEGED GROUND OF REPEAL THE ADMINISTRATION PLEDGES 

ITSELF TO THE PRINCIPLE OF " NON-INTERVENTION " EMBODIED 
IN THE NEBRASKA BILL. 

PEESIDENT PIERCE, in his' first annual message, sub- 
mitted to Congress on tlie 6tli of December, 1853, felici- 
tated his countrymen upon the prevailing peace and quiet. 

" We are not only at peace with all the world," he said, " but 
in regard to political affairs, we are exempt from any cause of 
serious disquietude in our domestic relations. The controversies 
which have agitated the country heretofore, are passing away 
with the causes that produced them and the passions they had 
awakened ; or, if any trace of them remains, it may be reason- 
ably hoped that it will only be perceived in the zealous rivalry 
of all good citizens to testify their respect for the rights of the 
States, their devotion to the Union, and their common determi- 



PLEDGES OF PRESIDENT PIERCE. I35 

nation that each one of the States, its institutions, its welfare, 
and its domestic peace, shall be held alike secure under the sacred 
aegis of the Constitution." 

He declared liis fixed purpose to maintain, so far as respon- 
sibility rested with him, the quiet and harmony of the country. 
" It is no part of my purpose to give prominence," he said, " to 
any subject which may properly be regarded as set at rest by the 
dehberate judgment of the people. But while the present is 
bright with promise, and the future full of demand and induce- 
ment for the exercise of active intelligence, the past can never 
be without useful lessons of admonition and instruction. If its 
dangers serve not as beacons, they will evidently fail to fulfill 
the object of a wise design. When the grave shall have closed 
over all who are now endeavoring to meet the obligations of 
duty, the year 1850 will be recurred to as a period filled with 
anxious apprehension. A successful war had just terminated. 
Peace brought with it a vast augmentation of territory. Dis- 
turbing questions arose, bearing upon the domestic institutions 
of one portion of the Confederacy, and involving the consti- 
tutional rights of the States. But, notwithstanding differences 
of opinion and sentiment, which then existed in relation to de- 
tails and specific provisions, the acquiescence of distinguished 
citizens, whose devotion to the Union can never be doubted, had 
given renewed vigor to our institutions, and restored a sense of 
repose and security to the public mind throughout the Confed- 
eracy. That this repose is to suffer no shock during my official 
term, if I have power to avert it, those who placed me here may 
be assured." 

These were the pledges of President Pierce made to the peo- 
ple of the country on the 6th of December, 1853. 

On the 4th of January, 1854, Mr. Douglas, of Illinois, chair- 
man of the Committee on Territories, reported in the Senate a 
bill for establishing a government in the Territory of Nebraska. 
This bill contained no express repeal of the Missouri Compromise 
restriction, nor did it prohibit slavery ; but was accompanied by 
a report, in which the committee said that they refrained from 
entering upon any controversy with respect to the constitutional 
validity of the Missouri restriction (which had been questioned), 
as " it would involve the same issues which produced the agita- 



136 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tion, tlie sectional strife, and tlie fearful struggle of 1S50. As 
Congress deemed it wise and prudent to refrain from deciding 
the matters in controversy then — either by affirming or repealing 
the Mexican laws, or by an act declaratory of the true intent of 
the Constitution, and the extent of the protection afforded by it 
to slave-property — so we are not prepared to recommend a de- 
parture from the course j)m-sued on that memorable occasion, 
either by affirming or repealing the eighth section of the Mis- 
souri act, or by any act declaratory of the meaning of the Con- 
stitution in respect to the legal points in dispute," but the com- 
mittee submitted a section at the same time, in these words : 
" That in order to avoid all misconstruction, it is hereby declared 
to be the true intent and meaning of this act, so far as the ques- 
tion of slavery is concerned, to carry into practical operation the 
following propositions and principles, established by the com- 
promise measures of one thousand eight hundred and fifty, to 
wit : First. That all questions pertaining to slavery in the Ter- 
ritories, and in the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be 
left to the decision of the people residing therein, through their 
appropriate representatives. Second. That ' all cases involving 
title to slaves ' and ' questions of personal freedom,' are referred 
to the adjudication of the local tribunals, with the light of appeal 
to the Supreme Com-t of the United States. Third. That the 
provisions of the Constitution and the laws of the United States 
in respect to fugitives from service, are to be carried into faith- 
ful execution in aU the ' organized Territories ' the same as in the 
States." 

On the 16th of January Mr. Dixon, a "Whig Senator from 
Kentucky, gave notice that when the ISTebraska Bill should come 
up for consideration, he should move as an amendment, that so 
much of the Missouri Compromise Act as excluded slavery from 
the territory ceded by France to the United States, which lies 
north of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, should not be con- 
strued to apply to the act for organizing a territorial government 
in Nebraska, but that the citizens of the several States and Ter- 
ritories should be at liberty to take and hold their slaves within 
any of the Territories or of the States to be formed from them. 
Mr. Dixon afterward explained that he was a pro-slavery man 
from a slaveholding State, and represented a slaveholding con- 



THE NEBRASKA BILL. 137 

stitnencj ; and tliat it was his purpose to maintain their rights 
whenever any question affecting them was brought before the 
people. "Where slavery was concerned, he declared he was neither 
Whig nor Democrat. 

The next day — Tuesday, January 17th — Mr. Sumner gave 
notice that he should move as an amendment to the bill that 
nothing contained in it should be construed to abrogate or in 
any way contravene the section in the Missom-i Compromise Act, 
which forever prohibited slavery in aU the territory ceded by 
France lying north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. 

Mr. Douglas gave notice at the same time that he should, on 
the next Monday (January 23d), move to take up the Nebraska 
Bill. He said he gave this notice in order to call the attention 
of Senators to the subject. 

The newspaper organ of General Pierce's Administration — 
the Washington Union, on Friday, January 20th — denounced 
the proposed amendments of both Mr. Dixon and Mr. Sumner, 
as coming from members of two parties irreconcilably opposed 
to Democratic ascendency. " It may be well for us to scrutinize 
with care the movements of those who are our uniform oppo- 
nents. That abolitionists would rejoice to see the fires of dis- 
cord rekindled by the revival of the slavery agitation, no one 
can doubt. Those who have perused the extracts from Senator 
Smnner's speech, which we lately pubHshed, will be slow to 
suppose that agitation is not his object in oifering his amend- 
ment. On the other hand, there is nothing in the past history 
of the Whig party which ought to make it offensive in us to say, 
that of late years its only hopes of ascendency have been based 
upon the slavery agitation in some one of its forms. . . . Pru- 
dence, patriotism, devotion to the Union, the interest of the Demo- 
cratic party, all suggest that that pubhc sentiment which now 
acquiesces cheerfully in the principles of the Compromise of 
1850, should not be inconsiderately disturbed. The triumphant 
election of President Pierce shows that on this basis the hearts 
and the judgments of the people are with the Democracy. 
We venture to suggest that it is well worthy of consideration, 
whether a faithful adherence to the creed which has been so 
triumphantly indorsed by the people, does not require all good 
Democrats to hesitate and reflect maturely upon any proposition 



138 LIFE OF SALMON POETLAND CHASE. 

whicli any member of our party can object to as an interpo- 
lation upon that creed. In a word, it would be wise in all 
Democrats to consider whether it would not be safest to let well 
enough alone. To repeal the Missouri Compromise might, and 
according to our view, would clear the principle of congressional 
non-intervention of all embarrassment ; but we doubt whether 
the good thus promised is so important that it would be wise to 
seek it through the agitation which necessarily stands in our 
path. Upon a calm review of the whole ground, we yet see no 
such reasons for disturbing the Compromise of 1820, as could 
induce us to advocate either of the amendments proposed to 
Mr. Douglas's bill." In the same article the Union said, how- 
ever — " It will be remembered that the bill, as proposed by Mr. 
Douglas, reenacts and applies to IN^ebraska the clause on slavery 
adopted in the Compromise of 1850. That clause is silent as to 
the question of slavery during the territorial condition of the 
inhabitants, but expressly recognizes and asserts their right to 
come into the Union as a State, either with or without the insti- 
tution of slavery, as they may determine in their constitution." 
So far the peace of the country was undisturbed by a new 
slavery agitation. But now what ? — 

" Eurus, Notusque ruunt, creberque procellis, 
Africus," 

said Mr. Chase, quoting. "Tes, sir, '• creber jprocellis Africus'' 
— the south wind thick with storm." 

On Monday, the 23d of January, Mr. Douglas asked per- 
mission to make a report from the Committee on Territories, in 
relation to the ISTebraska Bill, which had been set apart for con- 
sideration that day. He said that the committee had concluded 
to recommend the division of the proposed Territory of l^e- 
braska into two Territories, and to change — of course — the boun- 
dary ; the second to be called Kansas. " We have prepared our 
amendment," he said, " in the form of a substitute, to come in 
lieu of the bUl which we have already reported. We have also 
incorporated into it one or two other amendments, which make 
the provisions of the bill upon other and more delicate questions 
clear and specific, so as to avoid all conflict of opinion." He 
asked that the substitute be printed, so that Senators could 



"DELICATE QUESTIONS" MADE CLEAR. 139 

see what it was. Mr. Mason asked — " I wish to know whether 
the amendment now proposed as a substitute is reported from 
the committee ? " Mr. Douglas answered, " It is." Mr. Doug- 
las said also, in answer to other inquiries, that both Territories 
were included in one bill, and that the boundaries were specified 
in each ease. The substitute was then ordered to be printed. 

One of the amendments introduced into the substitute, and 
intended by Mr. Douglas to make certain delicate questions 
more clear and specific, was comprehended in these pregnant 
words : " That the Constitution, and all the laws of the United 
States which are not locally inapplicable, shall have the same 
force and effect within the said Territory as elsewhere in the 
United States, except the eighth section of the act preparatory 
to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, 
1S20, which was superseded by the principles of the legislation 
of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, and is de- 
clared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and mean- 
ing of this act not to legislate slavery into any State or Terri- 
tory, nor to exclude it therefrom ; but to leave the people 
thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic insti- 
tutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of 
the United States." ' 

On the 26th of January, the Union newspaper announced 
that the Democratic party was entirely pledged to the policy 
embodied in Mr. Douglas's substitute, and that the Adminis- 
tration was firm in its resolution to cany it out ; and a fortnight 
later declared, that those Democratic members of Congress who, 
supporting the policy of Mr. Douglas's bUl, were discarded by 
their constituents, would be taken care of by the President in 
making distribution of the public patronage. 

^ The history of this amendment will appear in the eighteenth chapter of this 
volume. 



CHAPTEK XYII. 

THE APPEAL OF THE rNDEPENDENT DEMOCEATS EFFECT OF THE 

APPEAL UPON THE PUBLIC SENTIMENT OF THE NORTH. 

IT was tlie belief of the Independent Democrats in Congress, 
that under tlie bill introduced by Mr, Douglas on tbe 4tli 
of January, it was designed tbat slavery should be allowed in 
Nebraska. The substitute offered by the same Senator on the 
23d of January — dividing ^Nebraska into two Territories, with a 
view, probably, to devote one of them to slavery and the other 
to freedom — ripened that belief into certainty. Forwarned, as 
they felt, they had already prepared an appeal to the people of 
the United States, advising them of the danger, and m'ging 
them to interpose without delay to prevent it. 

" As Senators and Representatives in the Congress of the 
United States," said the signers of this celebrated paper,' " it is 
our duty to warn our constituents, whenever imminent danger 
menaces the freedom of our institutions or the permanency of 
the Union. 

" Such danger, as we firmly believe, now impends, and we 
earnestly solicit your prompt attention to it. 

" At the last session of Congress a bill for the organization 
of the Territory of !N"ebraska passed the House of Kepresenta- 
tives by an overwhelming majority. That bill was based on 
the principle of excluding slavery from the new Territory. It 
was not taken up for consideration in the Senate, and conse- 
quently failed to become a law. 

' This paper was written by Mr. Chase, in part from a draft prepared by Mr. 
Giddings. 



APPEAL OF INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS. 141 

" At the present session a new Nebraska Bill has been re- 
ported by the Senate Committee on Territories, which, should it 
unhappily receive the sanction of Congress, will open all the 
unorganized Territories of the Union to the ingress of slavery. 

" "We arraign this bill as a gross violation of a sacred pledge ; 
as a criminal betrayal of precious rights ; as part and parcel of 
an atrocious plot to exclude from a vast unoccupied region 
immigrants from the Old World and free laborers from our own 
States, and convert it into a dreary region of despotism, in- 
habited by masters and slaves. 

" Take your maps, fellow-citizens, we entreat you, and see 
what country it is which this bUl gratuitously and recklessly 
proposes to open to slavery. 

"From the southwestern corner of Missouri pursue the 
parallel of 36° 30' north latitude westerly across the Ai-kansas, 
across the Korth Fork of the Canadian to the northeastern angle 
of Texas ; then follow the northern boundary of Texas to the 
western limit of ISTew Mexico ; then proceed along that western 
line to its northern termination ; then again turn westwardly, 
and follow the northern line of l^ew Mexico to the crest of the 
Rocky Mountains ; then ascend northwardly along the crest of 
that mountain-range to the line which separates the United 
States from the British possessions in !N'orth America, on the 
forty-ninth parallel of north latitude ; then pursue your 
course eastwardly along that line to the White-Earth Kiver, 
which falls into the Missouri from the north ; descend that 
river to its confluence with the Missouri ; descend the Missom'i, 
along the western border of Minnesota, of Iowa, of IVIissouri, to 
the point where it ceases to be a boundary-line, and enters the 
State to which it gives its name then continue your southward 
course along the western limit of that State to the point from 
which you set out. You have now made the circuit of the pro- 
posed Territory of N^ebraska. 'You have traversed the vast 
distance of more than three thousand miles. You have traced 
the outline of an area of four hundi-ed and eighty-five thousand 
square miles ; more than twelve times as great as that of Ohio. 

" This immense region, occupying the very heart of the 
North American Continent, and larger, by thirty-three thousand 
square miles, than all the existing free States — ^including Cali- 



142 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

f ornia ; this immense region, well watered and fertile, tlirougli 
wliicli tlie middle and northern routes from the Atlantic to the 
Pacijfic must pass, this immense region, embracing all the unor- 
ganized territory of the nation, except the comparatively insig- 
nificant district of Indian Territory north of Red River and be- 
tween Arkansas and Texas, and now for more than thirty years 
regarded by the common consent of the American people as 
consecrated to freedom by statute and by compact — this im- 
mense region the bill now before the Senate, without reason and 
without excuse, but in flagrant disregard of sound policy and 
sacred faith, purposes to open to slavery. 

" We beg your attention, fellow-citizens, to a few historical 
facts : 

" The original settled policy of the United States, clearly 
indicated by the Jefferson proviso of 1784 and the Ordinance 
of 1787, was non-extension of slaveiy. 

" In 1803, Louisiana was acquired by purchase from France. 
At that time there were some twenty-five or thirty thousand 
slaves in the Territory ; most of them within what is now the 
State of Louisiana ; a few only, farther north, on the west bank 
of the Mississippi. Congress, instead of providing for the abo- 
lition of slavery in this new Territory, permitted its continu- 
ance. In 1812 the State of Louisiana was organized and ad- 
mitted into the Union with slavery. 

" In 1818, six years later, the inhabitants of the Territory of 
Missouri applied to Congress for authority to form a State con- 
stitution, and for admission into the Union. There were, at 
that time, in the whole territory acquired from France, outside 
of the State of Louisiana, not three thousand slaves. 

" There was no apology, in the circumstances of the country, 
for the continuance of slavery. The original national policy 
was against it, and not less the plain language of the treaty 
under which the territory had 'been acquired from France. 

" It was proposed, therefore, to incorporate in the bill author- 
izing the formation of a State government, a provision requir- 
ing that the constitution of the new State should contain an 
article providing for the abolition of existing slavery, and pro- 
hibiting the further introduction of slaves. 

" This provision was vehemently and pertinaciously opposed, 



APPEAL OF INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS. ' 143 

but finally prevailed in the House of Representatives by a de- 
cided vote". In the Senate it was rejected, and — in consequence 
of the disagreement between the two Houses — the bill was lost. 

"At the next session of Congress, the controversy was 
renewed with increased violence. It was terminated at length 
by a compromise. Missom-i was allowed to come into the Union 
with slavery ; but a section was inserted in the act authorizing 
her admission, excluding slavery forever from all the territory 
acquired from France, not included in the new State, lying 
north of 36° 30'. We quote" the prohibitory section : 

" ' Section 8. Be it further enacted, That in all that terri- 
tory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of 
Louisiana, which lies north of 36° and 30' of north latitude, not 
included within the limits of the State contemplated by this 
act, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than as the 
punishment of crimes, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited.' 

" The question of the constitutionality of this prohibition 
was submitted by President Monroe to his cabinet. John 
Quincy Adams was then Secretary of State ; John C. Calhoun 
was Secretary of War ; William H. Crawford was Secretary of 
the Treasury ; and William Wirt was Attorney-General. Each 
of these eminent gentlemen — three of tliem being from the 
slave States — gave a written opinion, affirming its constitution- 
ality, and thereupon the act received the sanction of the Presi- 
dent himself, also from a slave State. 

" Nothing is more certain in history than the fact that Mis- 
souri could not have been admitted as a slave State had not cer- 
tain members from the free States been reconciled to the meas- 
ure by the incorporation of this prohibition into the act of ad- 
mission. Nothing is more certain than that this prohibition has 
been regarded and accepted by the whole country as a solemn 
compact against the extension of slavery into any part of the 
ten-itory acquired from France lying north of 36° 30', and 
not included in the new State of Missouri. The same act — let 
it be ever remembered — which authorized the formation of a 
constitution by the State, without a clause forbidding slavery, 
consecrated, beyond question and beyoAd honest recall, the 
whole remainder of the Territory to freedom and free institu- 
tions forever. For more than thirty years — dm-ing more than 



144 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

liaK our national existence under our present Constitution — 
tliis compact lias been universally regarded and acted upon as 
inviolable American law. In conformity witb it, Iowa was 
admitted as a free State and Minnesota has been organized as a 
free Territory. 

" It is a strange and ominous fact, well calculated to awaken 
tlie worst apprehensions and the most fearful forebodings of 
future calamities, tbat it is now deliberately proposed to repeal 
tbis prohibition, by implication or directly — the latter certainly 
the manlier way — and thus to subvert the compact, and allow 
slavery in all the yet unorganized territory. 

" We cannot, in this address, review the various pretenses 
under which it is attempted to cloak this monstrous wrong, but 
we must not altogether omit to notice one. 

" It is said that N^ebraska sustains the same relations to sla- 
very as did the territory acquired from Mexico prior to 1850, 
and that the pro-slavery clauses of the bill are necessary to carry 
into effect the compromise of that year. 

" ISTo assertion could be more groundless. 

" Three acquisitions of territory have been made by treaty. 
The first was from France. Out of this territory have been 
created the three slave States of Louisiana, Arkansas and Mis- 
souri, and the single free State of Iowa. The controversy 
which arose in relation to the then unorganized portion of this 
territory was closed in 1820 by the Missouri act, containing the 
slavery prohibition, as has been already stated. This contro- 
versy related only to territory acquired from France. The act 
by which it was terminated was confined, by its own expres- 
sions, to the same territory, and had no relation to any other. 

" The second acquisition was from Spain. Florida, the ter- 
ritory thus acquired, was yielded to slavery without a struggle 
and almost without a murmur. 

" The third was from Mexico. The controversy wliich arose 
from this acquisition is fresh in the remembrance of the American 
people. Out of it sprung the acts of Congress commonly known 
as the Compromise Measures of 1850, by one of which Califor- 
nia was admitted as a free State ; while two others, organizing 
the Territories of New Mexico, and Utah, exposed aU the residue 
of the recently-acquired territory to the invasion of slavery. 



APPEAL OF INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS. I45 

" These acts were never supposed to abrogate or toucli the 
existing exclusion of slavery from what is now called Nebraska. 
They applied to the territory acquired from Mexico, and to that 
only. They were intended as a settlement of the controversy 
growing out of that acquisition, and of that controversy only. 
They must stand or fall by their own merits. 

" The statesmen whose powerful support carried the Utah 
and !New Mexico acts never dreamed that their provisions would 
be ever applied to ISTebraska. Even at the last session of Con- 
gress, Mr. Atchison, of Missouri, in a speech in favor of taking 
up the former ITebraska Bill, on the morning of the 4th of 
March, 1853, said : ' It is evident that the Missouri Compromise 
cannot be repealed. So far as that question is concerned, we 
might as well agree to the admission of this Territory now as 
next year, or five or ten years hence.' These words would not 
have fallen from tliis watchful guardian of slavery had he sup- 
posed that this Territory was embraced by the pro-slavery pro- 
visions of the Compromise Acts. This pretension had not then 
been set up. It is a palpable after-thought. 

" The Compromise Acts themselves refute this pretension. 
In the third article of the second section of the joint resolution 
for annexing Texas to the United States, it is expressly declared 
that, ' in such State or States as shall be fonned out of such ter- 
ritory north of said Missouri Compromise line, slavery or invol- 
untary servitude, except for crime, shall be prohibited ; ' and in 
the act for organizing New Mexico and settling the boundary of 
Texas, a proviso was incorporated, on motion of Mr. Mason, of 
Virginia, which distinctly preserves this prohibition, and flouts 
the barefaced pretension that all the territory of the United 
States, whether south or north of the Missouri Compromise line, 
is to be open to slavery. It is as follows: ^ Pro^ided^ that 
nothing herein contained shall be construed to impair or quahfy 
any thing contained in the third article of the second section of 
the joint resolution for annexing Texas to the United States, 
approved March 1, 1845, either as regards the number of States 
that may hereafter be formed out of the State of Texas or other- 
wise.' 

" Here is proof beyond controversy that the principle of the 
Missouri act prohibiting slavery north of 36° 30', far from being 
10 



146 LII'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

abrogated by the Compromise Acts, is expressly affirmed ; and 
that the proposed repeal of this prohibition, instead of being an 
affirmation of the Compromise Acts, is a repeal of a very prom- 
inent provision of the most important act of the series. It is 
solemnly declared in the very Compromise Acts, Hhat nothing 
herein contained shall "be construed to impair or qualify ' the 
prohibition of slavery north of 36° 30' ; and yet, in the face of 
tliis declaration, that sacred prohibition is said to be overthrown. 
Can presumption further go % To all who, in any way, lean 
upon these compromises, we commend this exposition. 

" The pretenses, therefore, that the territory covered by the 
j)Ositive prohibition of 1820, sustains a similar relation to slavery 
with that acquired from Mexico, covered by no prohibition ex- 
cept that of disputed constitutional or Mexican law, and that the 
Compromises of 1850 require the incorporation of the pro-slavery 
clauses of the Utah and New Mexico Bill in the Nebraska act, 
are mere inventions, designed to cover up from public reprehen- 
sion meditated bad faith. Were he living now, no one would 
be more forward, more eloquent, or more indignant in his denun- 
ciation of that bad faith, than Hemy Clay, the foremost cham- 
pion of both compromises. 

" In 1820 the slave States said to the free States : ' Admit 
Missouri with slavery, and refrain from positive exclusion south 
of 36° 30', and we wiU join you in perpetual prohibition north 
of that line.' The free States consented. In 1864 the slave 
States say to the free States : ' Missouri is' admitted ; no prohi- 
bition south of 36° 30' has been attempted ; we have received 
the full consideration of our agreement ; no more is to be gained 
by adherence to it on our part ; we therefore propose to cancel 
the compact.' If this is not Punic faith, what is % Not without 
the deepest dishonor and crime can the free States acquiesce in 
the demand. 

"We confess our total inability properly to delineate the 
character or describe the consequences of this measm'e. Lan- 
guage fails to express the sentiments of indignation and abhor- 
rence which it inspires; and no vision less penetrating and 
comprehensive than that of the All-Seeing can reach its evil 
issues, . . . 

" We appeal to the people. We warn you that the dPiarest 



APPEAL OF INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS. 147 

interests of freedom and tlie Union are in imminent peril. Dem- 
agogues may tell you that the Union can be maintained only by 
submitting to the demands of slavery. "We tell you that the 
Union can only be maintained by the full recognition of the just 
claims of freedom and man. The Union was formed to estab- 
lish justice and secure the blessings of liberty. "When it fails to 
accomplish these ends it will be worthless, and when it becomes 
worthless it cannot long endm'e. 

" "We entreat you to be mindful of that fundamental maxim 
of Democracy — Equal eights and exact justice fok all men. 
Do not submit to become agents in extending legalized oppres- 
sion and systematized injustice over a vast territory yet exempt 
from these terrible evils. 

'• "We implore Christians and Christian ministers to interpose. 
Their divine religion requires them to behold in every man a 
brother, and to labor for the advancement and regeneration of 
the human race. 

" "Whatever apologies may be offered for the toleration of 
slavery in the States, none can be offered for its extension into 
Territories where it does not exist, and where that exten- 
sion involves the repeal of ancient law and the violation of 
solemn compact. Let all protest, earnestly and emphatically, 
by correspondence, through the press, by memorials, by reso- 
lutions of public meetings and legislative bodies, and in what- 
ever other mode may seem expedient, against this enormous 
crime. 

" For ourselves, we shall resist it by speech and vote, and 
with all the abilities which God has given us. Even if overcome 
in the impending struggle, we shall not submit. "We shall go 
home to our constituents, erect anew the standard of freedom, 
and call on the people to come to the rescue of the country from 
the domination of slavery. "We will not despair ; for the cause 
of human freedom is the cause of God." 

The appeal was signed by S. P. Chase, Senator from Ohio ; 
Charles Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts ; J. R. Giddings 
and Edward "Wade, Representatives from Ohio ; Gerritt Smith, 
Representative from l^ew York ; Alexander De "Witt, Repre- 
sentative from Massachusetts. It was printed in "Washington 
and Kew York papers on the 24th and 25th of January, and 



148 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

witliin a fdrtniglit was reprinted in most of tlie newspapers 
throughout the free States. 

The effect of the appeal was instant. Its powerful and sol- 
emn language, coupled with the magnitude of the subject to 
which it called the public attention, created in the ]^orth a pro- 
found agitation. Its warnings were felt to be warranted by the 
occasion which produced them, and everywhere preparation be- 
gan with a view to manifest to Congress the popular judgment 
against the proposed repeal. Opposition to the measure was con- 
fined to no party, to no State, to no part of a State, but pervaded 
the entire I^orthem people ; and but for the prodigious influ- 
ence of party organization and discipline, joined with an exten- 
sive patronage of offices, all of which were speedily and energeti- 
cally called into operation, the uprising might have been effec- 
tive against the repeal. 



CHAPTEE XYIII. 

MR. DOUGLAS DENOTINCES THE ATPEAL OF THE INDEPENDENT DEM- 

OCEATS DEFENDS THE " PEINCIPLE " OF HIS NEBRASKA BILL 

—AND ALLEGES THAT THE LEGISLATION OF 1850 SUPEESEDED 

THE MISSOUEI KESTEICTION ^ME. CHASE DENIES THE DOCTEINE 

OF SUPEESEDUEE HIS SPEECH ACTION OF THE SENATE ON 

THE QUESTION OF SUPEESEDUEE — ^ME. CHASE SEEKS TO DIS- 
COVEE, BY IMPOETANT AMENDMENTS, THE EEAL PEINCIPLE OF 

THE BILL ITS EEAL PEINCIPLE DEVELOPED — THE AGITATION 

IN THE NOETH PASSAGE OF THE BILL ANECDOTE OF ME. 

CHASE. 

MR. DOUGLAS came into the Senate on tlie morning of 
tlie SOtli of January, laboring under mucli angry excite- 
ment. He liad read the appeal of the Independent Democrats, 
and at once denounced both it and its authors with indignant 
bitterness. He stigmatized statements it contained as "base 
falsehoods." He said material facts of history had been sup- 
pressed, and that other facts had been misstated and misrepre- 
sented. He called Chase and Sumner " abolition confederates 
in slander," "pure, unmitigated, unadulterated abohtionists," 
who wished a renewal of the slavery agitation, and who sought 
by this appeal to win " tender-footed Democrats " into the sup- 
port of their " plot." He branded the already-prevailing excite- 
ment as an "abolition tornado, which would again put the 
country in peril." He elaborated his views upon the vital prin- 
ciple of the Nebraska Bill ; it was that, he said, upon which 
rested the Compromise of 1850 ; " the great principle of seK- 
government ; the right of the people to decide the question of 



150 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

their domestic institutions for themselves, subject only to such 
limitations and restrictions as are imposed by the Constitution 
of the United States." He said that the object of the Com- 
promise of 1850 was to establish certain great principles, appli- 
cable to all the unorganized territory of the country, which 
would avoid the slavery agitation for aU time to come. He 
denied that that compromise was a mere temporary expedient, 
applicable only to Utah and ]^ew Mexico, which left the country 
entirely at sea in the future. If it was an expedient merely, 
then Webster, Clay and Cass had palmed upon the people an 
atrocious fraud. But he held that there had been, by the legis- 
lation of 1850, an express annulment of the Missouri Compro- 
mise, and that as to all unorganized Territories it was superseded 
by that legislation, and that Congress was bound to apply the 
principle it established in the organization of all existing Terri- 
tories, and in all that might be acquired in future. " If this prin- 
ciple is right," he said, " the bill is right. If the principle is 
wrong, the biU is wrong. . . . The legal effect of the bill, if it be 
passed, is neither to legislate slavery into the Territories nor out 
of them, but to leave the people free to do as they please, under the 
provisions and subject to the limitations of the Constitution of 
the United States. And why," he asked, " shall not this principle 
prevail ? Why should any man, North or South, object to it ? " 
He announced his intention to stand by it, not merely because 
he was bound to it by the Baltimore platform of 1852, but be- 
cause of a higher and more solemn obligation, to which the 
Democracy stood pledged by the love and affection they bore to 
the great principle of free institutions, which lies at the basis of 
the Democratic creed, and gives to every political community 
the right to govern itseK in obedience to the Constitution of the 
country. 

Mr. Chase said he reaffirmed every word and syllable in the 
appeal, distinctly and emphatically, and that at a future day 
he would demonstrate that the Missouri prohibition had not 
been repealed by the compromise measures of 1850 ; that not 
a single word had been uttered in the Senate-chamber, nor in 
the House of Kepresentatives, indicating any idea or purpose, 
on the part of anybody, that those measures were to operate 
as a repeal, and " that when the Senator vouches the authority 



MISSOURI COMPROMISE— REPEAL LEGISLATION. 151 

of Clay and Webster to sustain liim, he vouches authorities 
which would rebuke him, could those statesmen speak from 
their graves." 

Mr. Sumner added that the language of the appeal was 
strong, but no stronger than the exigency required. The pro- 
posed measure, which reversed the time-honored policy of our 
fathers in the restriction of slavery, could not justly be described 
in common language. He denounced it as " a soulless, eyeless 
monster — ^horrid, unshapely and vast." 

On the 3d of February Mr. Chase proceeded to vindicate the 
■ statements contained in the appeal. He declared the averment 
in the substitute reported by Mr. Douglas on the 23d of Janu- 
aiy, to the effect that the Missouri prohibition had been " super- 
seded by the principles of the legislation of 1850, commonly 
called the compromise measures," to be " untrue in fact and 
without foundation in history." He moved — for that reason — 
to strike it out of the bill, and in support of his motion, reviewed 
the history both of the Missouri Compromise and the compro- 
mise measm*es of 1850. "When the measures of 1850 were 
before Congress," he asked, " when the questions involved in 
them were discussed from day to day, from week to week, from 
month to month, in this Senate-chamber, who ever heard that 
the Missouri prohibition was to be superseded ? What man, at 
what time, in what speech, ever suggested that the acts of that 
year were to affect the Missouri Compromise ? The Senator 
from Illinois the other day invoked the authority of Henry 
Clay — that departed statesman, in respect to whom, whatever 
may be the differences of political opinion, none question that, 
among the great men of this country, he stood proudly eminent. 
Did he, in the report made by him as chairman of the Committee 
of Thirteen, or in any speech in support of the Compromise Acts, 
or in any conversation in the committee, or out of the committee, 
ever hint at this doctrine of supersedure ? Did any supporter, 
or any opponent of the Compromise Acts, ever vindicate or con- 
demn them upon the ground that the Missoui'i prohibition would 
be affected by them? Well, sir, the Compromise Acts were 
passed. They were denounced ]!Torth and South. Did any de- 
fender of them at the South ever justify his support of them 
upon the ground that the South had obtained through them tha 



152 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

repeal of the Missouri prohibition ? Did any objector to them 
at the ]S"orth ever suggest as a ground of condemnation that that 
prohibition was swept away by them ? Ko, sir ! 'No man, North 
or South, during the whole of the discussion of those acts here, or 
in that other discussion which followed their enactment throiigh- 
out the country, ever intimated any such opinion." He re- 
viewed the history of the pending bill in its several phases, and 
said the doctrine of supersedure was no older than the 23d of 
January. He asked Mr. Mason, of Virginia, whether, at any 
time before that date, he had ever heard such a proposition 
stated or maintained by anybody anywhere? Mr. Mason re- 
mained silent. He appealed to General Cass, who had been 
one of the Committee of Thirteen which in 1850 had reported 
the compromise measures, whether in that committee or else- 
where, any syllable was uttered which indicated any purpose to 
apply the principles of those measures to any other Territories 
than those organized under them ? General Cass remained silent 
also. 

Mr. Chase said, near the conclusion of his speech, that he had 
proved the averment he proposed to strike out of the bill, to be 
untrue. " Senators, will you unite in a statement which you 
know to be contradicted by the history of the country ? "WiU 
you incorporate into a public statute an affirmation which is con- 
tradicted by every event which attended or followed the adop- 
tion of the Compromise Acts ? Will you here, acting under your 
high responsibility as Senators of the States, assert as fact, by a 
solemn vote, that which the personal recollection of every Senator 
who was here during the discussion of those Compromise Acts 
disproves ? " But if it must be done, he said, he wished to see 
it done openly and boldly, and not by indirection. 

" But who," he asked, " who is responsible for this renewal of 
strife and controversy? ISTot we, for we have introduced no 
question of territorial slavery into Congress — ^not we, who are 
denounced as agitators and factionists. ISTo, sir: the quietists 
and the finalists have become agitators ; they who told us that 
all agitation was quieted, and that the resolutions of the political 
conventions had put a final period to the discussion of slavery. 

" This will not escape the observation of the country. It is 
Slavery that renews the strife. It is slavery that again wants 



MISSOUKI COMPROMISE LEGISLATION. 153 

room. It is slavery, with, its insatiate demands for more slave 
territory and more slave States." 

Mr, Chase was two hom-s and a half in the delivery of this 
great argument, and so completely and overwhelmingly did he 
refute the doctrine of supersedm-e, that no Senator attempted 
either reply or defense. His amendment was rejected, how- 
ever, by thirty to thirteen. But although, the friends of repeal 
had voted down his amendment, they felt the averment in the 
bill to be too paltry for successful defense before the people. 
The inexorable necessity remained, nevertheless, that some ade- 
quate reason should be assigned for the abrogation of the pro- 
hibition. Mr. Douglas proposed to substitute a declaration that 
the Missouri act was inconsistent with the principles of the legis- 
lation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures. This 
was a less hazardous and objectionable method of statement ; 
although, according to Mr. Douglas, it conveyed the " express 
idea of the original words " — and simply " made it plainer." 

Accordingly on the 7th of February that Senator introduced 
an amendment, which alleged that the Missouri prohibition, 
" being inconsistent with the principles of non-intervention by 
Congress with slavery in the Teri'itories, as recognized by the 
legislation of 1850, commonly called the compromise measures, 
is hereby declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent 
and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Ter- 
ritory or State, or to exclude it therefrom, but to leave the 
people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their own 
domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Con- 
stitution of the United States." This was adopted on the 
15th of February, by thirty-five to ten ; Mr. Chase remarking, 
however, that he did not regard this statement as any truer in 
fact than that for which it was a substitute. For his own part, 
he said, he would altogether prefer to see the measure stripped 
of excuses. 

But he called the attention of the Senate to a weightier mat- 
ter. The alleged principle of the bill was, that the people of 
the Territory were to be left perfectly free to form and regulate 
their own domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to 
the Constitution of the United States. It was of the first im- 
portance to ascertain what was meant by this phrase — " subject 



154 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

only to the Constitution of the United States^ Tliere was a 
wide difference of opinion among Senators as to what tlie consti- 
tutional limitations and restrictions really were Some Senators 
thought the Constitution had no operation in the Territories, ex- 
cept by express enactment of Congress. Others thought it ex- 
tended over the Territories from the moment of their acquisition. 
Some maintained that the Constitution, properly interpreted, 
prevented the existence of slavery in the Territories altogether, 
and made it impossible for a territorial Legislature to introduce 
it by any valid enactment. Others contended that under it, the 
territorial Legislature could not exclude slavery. He sought 
to exclude all doubt on the subject, and moved that after the 
words of the amendment just made should be added these — 
" under which the people of the Territory, through their appro- 
priate representatives, may, if they see fit, prohibit the existence 
of slavery therein." His object was to get the sense of the 
Senate upon the vital question, whether, subject to the limita- 
tions of the Constitution, the people of the Territory, acting 
through their proper representatives, in the territorial Legislature, 
COULD protect themselves against slavery by prohibiting it. The 
operation of this amendment, if adopted, would be very simple : 
it asserted distinctly and unequivocally the principle of non-in- 
tervention which the bill professed ; that under it, in the judg- 
ment of Congress, the people of the Territory might utterly ex- 
clude slavery if they should choose to do so. Of course there 
could be no real objection to this amendment, if the principle of 
the bill * was a genuine non-intei'vention ; but the long and some- 
what stormy debate which followed, illustrated clearly enough 
that in the judgment of some Senators, at least, the bill was ex- 
pected to operate a very potent kind of intervention in behalf 
of slavery. The amendment was rejected by the emphatic vote 
of thirty-six nays to ten in the affirmative. 

1 In order still further to illustrate the character of the alleged principle of the 
bill — non-intervention with the domestic afiairs of the States and Territories — Mr. 
Chase offered another amendment, the effect of which would be, if adopted, to enable 
the people of the Territory to elect their own Governor, judges of courts, and other 
State ofl5cers, and members also of the territorial Legislature. But the Senate was 
not fifteen minutes in voting it down, and almost as summarily rejected another, in- 
tended to restore the boundaries of Nebraska as stated in the original bill, and 
leave but one Government therein instead of two. 



REPEAL OF MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 155 

Pending the debate upon tlie bill in tlie Senate, tbe agita- 
tion in tbe ISTortb bad widened and deepened, nntil it pervaded 
all ranks and classes and largely involved botb political parties. 
It pxbibited itself in many public meetings ; in nmnberless peti- 
tions signed by botb men and women ; in remonstrances by re- 
ligious bodies ; in tbe denunciations of press and pulpit ; in re- 
solves of State Legislatures. Tbe most remarkable protest was 
tbat presented by Mr. Everett, of Massacbusetts,* wbicb bore tbe 
signatures of tbree thousand and fifty clergymen of tbe ISTew 
England States. It ran in tbese impressive words : " Tbe under- 
signed, clergymen of different religious denominations in !New 
England, hereby, est the najvie of AL^nGHTT God and in His 
presence, do solemnly protest against the passage of what is 
known as tbe Nebraska Bill, or any repeal or modification of 
the existing legal prohibitions of slavery in that part of our 
national domain which it is proposed to organize into the Terri- 
tories of ITebraska and Kansas. We protest against it as a great 
moral wrong, as a breach of faith eminently unjust to tbe moral 
principles of the community, and subversive of all confidence in 
national engagements ; as a measure full of danger to the peace 
and even to the existence of our beloved Union, and exposing 
us to the righteous judgments of the Almighty." 

The bill was pressed forward to its passage, however, although 
tbe universal and continually growing excitement e^ddently made 
a deep impression upon the minds of its leading friends in Con- 
gi*ess. Mr. Douglas showed his consciousness of it by repeated 
observations in the course of the debate, most of them in hot, 
imperious temper. But tbe bill carried bis political fortunes, as 
he believed, and with a pertinacious courage and defiance alike 
of the counsels of friends and the threats of enemies, he bore it 
triumphantly through. 

It passed the Senate at about five o'clock on the morning of 
the 4th of March, 1854, at the close of a session of seventeen 
hours' duration, by a vote of thirty-seven to fourteen. A South- 
ern Senator — Houston, of Texas — closed the debate by a solemn 
protest and warning against it. Tbe scene in the Senate, at this 
momentous hour, was full of intense and suppressed excitement. 
It was one of trimnph and glory for the friends of the measm-e, 

* It was presented, however, after the bill had passed the Senate. 



156 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and their exultation found vent in verbal congratulation within 
the walls of the Capitol, and by the firing of cannon without 
them, but in the hearing of those whose votes had decided the 
tremendous issue. The opponents of the bill saw in its passage 
the great opportunity of freedom, and the grief of present de- 
feat was tempered by a behef that it would prove an effective 
instrument for the final overthrow of the slave-power. 

It was yet dark when the lights were turned out in the Senate- 
chamber, and both Senators and spectators departed for their 
homes. Mr. Chase and Mr. Sumner walked down the steps of 
the Capitol together. The thunder of the cannon of triumphant 
slavery at steady intervals smote upon their ears. " They cele- 
brate a present victory," said Mr. Chase, " but the echoes they 
awake will never rest till slavery itself shall die." 

The bill was sent to the House, but was not taken up in 
that body for more than two months. It was finally passed 
under circumstances of great disorder and excitement, on the 
20th of May, by one hundred and thirteen votes to one hun- 
dred against it. Party lines among Southern members were 
almost wholly lost in it ssupport. Forty-four JSTorthern Demo- 
crats voted for the bill ; forty-four l^orthern Democrats voted 
against it, and forty-four Northern "Whigs voted against and no 
Korthern Whig for it. Seven Southern Whigs and two Dem- 
ocrats voted against it ; one of the latter was Thomas H. 
Benton. 

The first session of the Thirty-third Congress began on the 
5th of December, 1853, and ended on the Tth of August, 1854. 
It opened in the midst of peace and prosperity ; it closed in the 
midst of a more universal and dangerous slavery agitation than 
was ever before known in the history of the American people. 



NOTE TO CHAPTER XVIII. 

Extracts from a Letter of Mr. Chase to John Paul. 

" 'WASHiKGTOir, December 28, 1854. 

" . . . . My views of the matters referred to in your last letter are clear 
and may be easily stated. 

" With me opposition to nationalized slaveholding and slave-catching 
and to slavery domination in our national Government, is a simple appli- 



LETTER TO JOHN PAUL. 15 7 

cation of Democratic principle. At the present moment I regard the ap- 
plication of that principle as of paramount importance. 

" I can therefore be a member of no party or political organization 
which, in a free State, ignores the slavery question, or which reduces it to 
a secondary consideration. Nor can I belong to any party which is anti- 
democratic in its character. 

" The rule which guides my political action is very simple. 

" For years past slavery has controlled the action of the old political 
parties. No matter which of them has obtained the control of the Gov- 
ernment, its administration has been, of necessity, pro-slavery. Under 
Polk, Texas was annexed with slavery. Under Fillmore, the fugitive 
slave act was passed. Under Pierce, the Missouri prohibition has been 
repealed. Not one of these measures could have been carried without the 
active aid of the existing Administration. 

" While the ascendant {)arty has been thus constantly pro-slavery, the 
existence of a powerful independent political organization avowedly anti- 
slavery has naturally had great influence upon the action of the party in 
opposition. The minority party in the free States has been antislavery at 
least so far as continued connection with a pro-slavery wing would permit. 
Thus when the old Democratic party succeeded under Polk, the old Whig 
party, being in the minority, became decidedly antislavery in profession, and 
to some extent in action. When the Whig party in its turn succeeded 
under Taylor, the old Democratic party being in the minority, became just 
as antislavery in profession and action as the Whigs had been in like cir- 
cumstances. When the Old-line Democracy again succeeded under Pierce, 
the Whigs again became antislavery. 

" In each of these successive periods the minority, whatever its political 
designation, has been ready to cooperate with the independent Antislavery 
party. Such cooperations have actually taken place. They have been 
more marked in their character and more frequent in their occurrence as 
the strength of the independent opposition to slavery has increased. 
Hence the cooperation between the antislavery Independents and the 
Whigs which elected Mr. Hale to the Senate in 1841. Hence too, the coop- 
eration between the antislavery Independents and the Democrats which 
elected Mr. Sumner and myself in 1851 and 1849. Hence, finally, those 
cooperations between the antislavery Independents and the Whigs which 
have elected Mr. Gillette and Mr. Brainard in 1854. 

" These cooperations between minorities opposed to an accidental ma- 
jority are inevitable ; and, when no principle is surrendered or hazarded, 
are free from all reasonable objection. Thus far they have not only 
marked but accelerated the prevalence of antislavery sentiment and prin- 
ciple. 

" As an Independent Democrat, recognizing the importance of consist- 
ent antislavery action, I have not hesitated to adopt the rule which these 
facts suggest. 

" I have cooperated and will cheerfully cooperate with any of my fel- 
low-citizens whom circumstances have disposed or may dispose to coop- 
erate with me in the advancement of the antislavery cause. I can never 
yield or modify my principles ; but if any party is willing to vote with 
me for men of my organization who will faithfully carry them out in 
legislative, judicial and executive action, I am willing to vote with 
men of theirs who will do the same or will not oppose the doing of it by 
others. 

" Thus in the recent election in Ohio I entered heartly into the Peo- 
ple's movement, which was nothing more nor less than a cooperation of 
Liberal Democrats, Independent Democrats and Whigs for the election of 



158 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

reliable slavery prohibitionists to tbe next Congress and of rebuking the 
pro-slavery action of the Administration party. . . . 

" For one I wish to see this People's movement go on in the liberal 
spirit which has thus far characterized it. But if it is to be understood 
that the Know-Nothings who participated in it will henceforth ignore the 
antislavery element or support no candidates who are not members of their 
order, or whose nominations are not dictated by them, those who regard 
the slavery question as of paramount importance and whose principles will 
not allow them to become members of Know-Nothing associations, must 
of necessity assume an antagonistic position. If this conflict shall arise, it 
is plain that the People's movement cannot go on or must go on without 
the Know-Nothing cooperation. It becomes the friends of Liberty to be 
prepared for every event. 

" Let it be granted that in the action of sorne foreigners there has been 
something justly censurable and calculated to provoke the hostility which 
has embodied itself in the Know-Nothing organization; still, cannot what 
is wrong in that action be remedied without resort to secret political or- 
ganizations ? Is it right to punish all for the faults of some ? Can anti- 
slavery men, especially, join in the indiscriminate proscription of those 
Americans of foreign birth who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in the 
anti-Nebraska struggle of last fall ? 

" I cannot take upon myself any secret political obligations. I cannot 
proscribe men on account of their birth. I cannot make religious faith a 
political test. I cannot pretend to judge those who think and act other- 
wise than I do. If they choose to condemn me because I cannot in these 
things violate the political maxims which have governed my political life 
hitherto, I must content myself with that approval of my own conscience 
which has sustained me heretofore under severer trials. 

" Your kind wishes for my political advancement are gratefully ac- 
knowledged. There are some reasons why such an indorsement of my 
political course as you suggest would be very gratifying. But hitherto I 
have never sacrificed or compromised any political principle, and I cannot 
begin now. No position is high enough to tempt me from the plain path 
in which my sense of political duty requires me to walk." 

Mr. Chase to General John A. Dix. 

" Washijjgton, November 25, 1863. 

" Your kind invitation to write something that may be read at the 
breaking of ground on the Union Pacific Railroad in Nebraska, found me 
in the midst of engagements so exacting that it has been impossible to 
write any thing worth the reading. 

" I could not, however, omit writing altogether, for that would imply 
an indifference to the work which no American feels. 

" It is among my most pleasing recollections of service as a Senator 
from Ohio, that the first practical measure looking to the construction of a 
Pacific Railroad, which received the sanction of Congress, was moved by 
me. That measure was an amendment to the army appropriation bill, 
placing at the disposal of the Secretary of War one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars, to be expended in surveys and explorations of routes for the 
road. It was adopted in the Senate in February, 1853, and was subse- 
quently concurred in by the House. Its results are embodied in the vol- 
umes known as the Pacific Railroad Rejjorts, printed by order of Congress. 

" It is another pleasing recollection that I had the honor in March, 
1850, of presenting and commending to the Senate the memorial of Dr. 
Pulte, an intelligent physician of Cincinnati, praying that measures might 



LETTER TO GENERAL DIX. 159 

be taken for the connection of New York witli London by extending the 
existing lines of telegraph to the Pacific, by way of the coast and Behring's 
Straits through Northern Asia to St. Petersburg — thus forming connec- 
tions with the lines to the cities of Western Europe. 

" This great work has since been completed to the Pacific by the in- 
domitable energy of Hiram Sibley, a private citizen of New York, aided 
by the simple promise of employment and compensation by the Govern- 
ment. On the other side of the Pacific, the Russian telegraph-line from 
St. Petersburg, constructed by the imperial Government, approaches if it 
has not already reached, the Pacific ; and American enterprise is earnestly 
enlisted in the task — now certain to be accomplished — of completing the 
wonderful work which the Cincinnati physician suggested more than thir- 
teen years ago. 

" Steam moves more slowly than lightning. The progress of the rail- 
road has been necessarily slower than that of the telegraph. When the 
surveys and explorations for a route had been partially reported, the sub- 
ject of the railroad was again brought before Congress ; and I had some 
connection with it — ^now, however, of a less pleasant, though still signifi- 
cant character. Solicitous for the progress of the work, I submitted a res- 
olution in January, 1854, instructing the Committee on Roads and Canals 
to inquire into and report upon the construction of a railroad from some 
point on the western lines of the "Western States to some point on the east- 
ern line of California. 

" On the motion of Mr. Gwynn the reference to the Committee on Roads 
and Canals was stricken out and the whole subject referred to a select com- 
mittee of nine Senators, from which committee I was excluded — because I 
then held about the same relations to the Democratic party on the subject 
of slavery as the War Democrats now hold on the question of the rebellion. 

" Mr. Gwynn's committee reported a bill which, after much discussion 
and sundry amendments passed the Senate in 1855, but failing to receive 
the sanction of the House, did not become a law. 

" Nothing further of importance was done in relation to the Pacific 
Railroad during the next seven years. The attention of the country was 
absorbed by other questions ; and it remained for the Thirty-seventh Con- 
gress to give a grand proof of the stability of the republic and the worth 
of democratic-republican institutions, by taking up this great measure, 
in the midst of our terrible civil war, and framing it into a law. The 
Thirty-seventh Congress will be forever memorable in history as the author 
of many acts of legislation of transcendant importance and far-reachino- 
consequences. Among these great acts the Pacific Railroad Bill win 
remain as one of the most illustrious monuments of the wisdom and cour- 
age of its members. 

" I shall not attempt any discussion of its importance to our industry, 
our commerce, or our Union. I have elsewhere said something on these 
themes ; but now the road is its own most eloquent advocate. °I rejoice in 
the belief that under your charge and that of the eminent citizens asso- 
ciated with you, it will go steadily forward to completion ; and vindicate, 
by perfect success, the most sanguine hopes and predictions of its advo- 
cates and promoters." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PAETT ACTION m KELATION TO THE NEBRASKA BILL DITFICULTT OF 

OBTAINING EIGNATUKES TO THE APPEAL OF THE INDEPENDENT 

DEMOCRATS ATTEMPT TO CHANGE THE CURRENT OF PUBLIC SEN- 

TmENT THROUGH ENOW-NOTHINGISM FAILURE OF THAT AT- 
TEMPT MR. CHASE RETIRES FROM THE SENATE THE STRUGGLE 

IN KANSAS BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE EARLIER EVENTS IN THAT 

STRUGGLE STATE OF PARTIES IN OHIO ORGANIZATION OF THE 

REPUBLICAN PARTY NOMINATION OF MR. CHASE FOR GOV- 
ERNOR HIS SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE CANVASS OF THE STATE 

AND HIS ELECTION. 

"TTXHEN the Kansas-Nebraska Bill first appeared in the Sen- 
V V ate, there was great uncertainty among the Whig Sena- 
tors and Eepresentatives as to the course they ought to pursue. 
Nearly the whole of the Southern Whig members of both 
Houses went over to the support of the Administration upon this 
question ; in the Senate there was but one exception, and in the 
House of Representatives there were but seven who finally voted 
against the bill. The dissolution of the "Whig party — largely 
accomplished by the action of its National Convention of 1852 
— and inevitable under the excitement growing out of the Ne- 
braska act, did not seem so clear to Northern Whigs in Congress 
as to warrant them in an utter abandonment of its fortunes, and 
although most of them approved the appeal of the Independent 
Democrats — which it was intended by its authors should be 
signed by all the members of Congress opposed to the repeal of 
the Missouri prohibition — they refused to give it the sanction of 
their names. Even Mr. Seward declined to sign it. It was 



PARTY ACTION UPON NEBRASKA BILL. 161 

found impossible to obtain tlie signatures desired ; and it was 
then proposed to issue it with the names only of the Ohio Sen- 
ators and the Ohio Representatives who opposed the bill. But 
even this was impracticable. Finding any thing like unanimity 
unattainable, the paper was signed by the Independent Demo- 
crats alone. The people took the alarm, and their potential voice 
was soon heard in Congress. The alliance of the Administration 
Senators and Representatives with substantially the whole body 
of the Southern Whigs, secured, it is true, the passage of the 
bill — but the Senators and Representatives who voted against 
it, represented a majority of the people of the free States. It 
was no longer doubtful upon what ground the reorganization of 
parties would take place. It must necessarily find its only bond 
of union in opposition to the extension of slavery. 

A vain attempt was made to turn the current of pubHc sen- 
timent into other channels through the instrumentality of the 
"American" or " Know-Kothing " organization. This was a 
secret society based chiefly upon opposition to the Roman 
Catholic Chm-ch, though a large part of its leadership was much 
more intensely pro-slavery than anti-Catholic. The novelty of 
its methods of action, and a measure of real hostihty to sup- 
posed inimical foreign influences in our politics — joined with 
other motives — made it for a time a very powerful pohtical in- 
strument. During the brief period of its existence, it received 
into its lodges a considerable majority of the members of both 
the "Whig and Democratic parties, and was a stepping-stone for 
many voters into the anti-Kebraska, and subsequently the Re- 
publican organization. But its character as a secn'et pohtical so- 
ciety, bound by oaths to promote certain pohtical purposes, made 
it thoroughly distasteful to the sober judgment of the people ; 
nor were its professed objects such as to command a permanent 
support. Its first E'ational Convention was broken up by a 
division upon the slavery question, and it promptly and utterly 
disappeared from political contests. The Whig party, although 
it made a struggle in some States at the fall elections of 1854, 
also disappeared, the great majority of its members going 
into the Know-JSTothing, and afterward into the Repubhcan 
organization ; and some, of intense pro-slavery sentiments, joined 
themselves to the Democracy. 
11 



X62 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Meantime Mr. Chase had been superseded in the Senate ' by 
Mr. George E. Pugh, Democrat, who was chosen his successor in 
a Legislatm-e unaffected by the anti-]^ebraska agitation. His term 
of service closed with the expiration of the Thirty-third Con- 
gress, March 3, 1855 ; and he carried with him, in his retire- 
ment, the cordial respect and hearty personal good-will of all 
his fellow-senators. Though he had supported his antislavery 
convictions with an unilincliing firmness, he had done so with so 
much dignity and courtliness of manner, and so entire a freedom 
from all personal imputation or impeachment of pro-slavery 
Senators and pro-slavery people, that he left behind him no 
enemy in the Senate. Many years afterward when in the midst 
of the war, Pierre Soule — who had been a Senator from Loui- 
siana during a part of Mr. Chase's term, and a well-known 
" fire-eater " — ^was a political prisoner in Fort Lafayette, he ap- 
pealed to Mr. Chase to proQure his enlargement upon parole, and 
recalled their former personal friendship. Mr. Chase could 
make no impression, however, upon the stern Secretary of "War, 
in the effort he made to procm-e Mr. Soule's release. 

The struggle for the possession of Kansas began even be- 
fore the passage of the Nebraska act, and after that event grew 
to be, in time, a local civil war. The antislavery party in the 
Korth organized emigrant aid societies ; the pro-slavery party 
in the South, particularly in Missom*i, on the borders of Kansas, 
organized " Social Bands," " Blue Lodges," and " Sons of the 
South." The former sent hona-fide settlers; the latter were 
not so scrupulous. Many hundred of these from Missom-i 
went over into the Temtory, and established a sort of squatter 
empire there as early as July and August, 1854. But though 

' Mr. Chase during his senatorial service supported also, of course, many meas- 
ures of less permanent and enduring interest; among these, the homestead law — 
the devotion of a portion of the public lands to the support of the indigent insane — 
the abolition of the franking privilege — the improvement of navigation on inland 
seas and rivers — the abolition of cruel and unusual punishments in the navy — cheap 
postage. In the Senate as everywhere else, he continued those habits of labor and 
attention which forgot nothing, anticipated all duties, and accomplished as much as any 
one in his peculiar situation could have done in the same circumstances. He constantly 
opposed all extra allowances, all extravagant appropriations, all unnecessary expen- 
ditures of whatever kind. His name is rarely found wanting in the call of the votes 
of the Senate, and was never absent when the subject of it was of real importance. 



EVENTS IN KANSAS. 163 

there was a good deal of threatening oratory, and some actual 
demonstrations of hostility against the free-State men, no blood 
was shed till a later period. 

Andrew H. Keeder, of Pennsylvania — said to be a soimd 
national Democrat, who would as soon buy a slave as a horse — 
was appointed territorial Governor. Accompanied by his Sec- 
retary of State — Woodson — Governor Reeder arrived at Fort 
Leavenworth in the early part of October, and established there 
his official residence. He declared his firm pui'pose to maintain 
law and order; the purity of the ballot-box and freedom of 
speech. In February he caused a census io be taken of the in- 
habitants of the Territory. The total population wafs found to 
be 8,501, of whom 2,905 were voters and about 250 slaves. He 
then — in the early part of March — ordered an election for dele- 
gates to the first territorial Legislature, to be held on the 30th 
of that month. There was a great deal of voting done in Kansas 
that day ; almost wholly by Missourians, however, who invaded 
the Territory by ^thousands ; took armed possession of the polls, 
and elected of com*se whomsoever they wished. The Legis- 
latm'e, elected in this way, met on the 2d of Jvily, and pro- 
ceeded to pass laws for the local government. One of these 
was of an extraordinary character. It enacted, among other 
things, "that if any free person shall assert or maintain, by 
speaking or writing, that persons have not the right to hold 
slaves in this Territory ; or shall introduce into this Territory, 
print, publish, write, circulate, or cause to be introduced into this 
Territory, wi'itten, printed, published, or circulated in this Ter- 
ritory, any book, paper, magazine, pamphlet, or circular, con- 
taining any denial of the right to hold slaves in this Territory 
— such person shall be deemed guilty of felony and punished 
by imprisonment at hard labor for a term of not less than two 
years 1 " Governor Reeder systematically vetoed the acts of this 
Legislatm'e, and refused to recognize their validity when re- 
enacted over his veto ; and the Legislature, in its turn, peti- 
tioned the President for his removal — a prayer with which, in 
due season, the President complied. Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, 
was appointed in Governor Reeder's place. Governor Shan- 
non recognized this Legislature as a legal body, whose laws 
were valid and binding upon the people of the Territory, and 



164 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ostentatiously announced himself in favor of making Kansas a 
slave State. 

But the free-State settlers, who were continually augmented 
in numbers, as well by voluntary emigration as through the in- 
strumentality of the "Emigrant Aid Societies" — ^the latter 
supplying them with materials of war also — were not mere pas- 
sive spectators of these events. They held meetings in various 
parts of the Territory ; declared their sympathy with Governor 
Reeder ; pledged themselves against the introduction of slavery, 
and denounced the violation of the ballot-boxes by the Missou- 
rians as an iniquitous outrage. In the fall of 1855, after Reeder 
had been superseded, they met in convention by their delegates, 
at Topeka, and took measures for the election of other delegates 
to a constitutional convention. Delegates were elected, accord- 
ingly, in October ; and met in pursuance of their election and 
formed a constitution — excluding slavery and providing for the 
erection of a State government, which was expected to go into 
operation in the following March. Under this free constitution, 
they made application to Congress for admission into the Union 
of the States, and were rejected. 

Immediately after the adjournment of the Topeka Free-State 
Convention, the pro-slavery leaders and their followers held a 
" Law-and-order Convention " at Leavenworth, over which Gov- 
ernor Shannon presided. It denounced the Topeka Conven- 
tion as a treasonable body, and pledged the " law-and-order- 
and-union-loving party " to the support of the laws ; meaning 
those laws enacted by the Legislature which Governor Reeder 
had repudiated. 

And now ensued a partisan warfare, not of great magnitude, 
but of extreme vindictiveness ; of battles, sieges and bm-nings ; 
of murder, pillage and outrage. The free-State people, refus- 
ing to be bound by the laws of the fraudulently elected Legis- 
lature, organized for miUtary defense and aggression upon in- 
vaders ; while the territorial and national administrations sought 
to enforce those laws. 

The details of the " Kansas War," with ample exaggeration 
and embellishment, found their way into the newspapers of the 
country, and engaged the whole political elements in a continued 
excited discussion of the slavery question. 



MR. CHASE NOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR. 165 

But neitlier the outrages in Kansas, nor the appeals of anti- 
slavery agitators, were potent enough to destroy the Democratic 
party, or very seriously to cripple or disorganize it. The great 
body of its members in the free States, notwithstanding the 
confusion and uncertainty which reigned among them for a 
brief period after the introduction of the JS'ebraska Bill into 
Congress, were brought rapidly and completely into the support 
of the principle of " non-intervention " embodied in that act — 
although a large minority abandoned the party. On the other 
hand it received considerable accessions of pro-slavery Whigs, 
which measurably compensated for loss of its own members. 

In Ohio, the opposition to Democratic ascendency was not 
compacted until after the assembling of the convention which, 
on the 13th of July, 1855,* nominated Mr. Chase as the Eepub- 
lican candidate for Governor. The Know-Nothing party was 

' The first State Convention of the anti-Nebraska party of Ohio was held at Co- 
lumbus on the 13th of July, 1854, and was largely due to the personal eiforts of Mr. 
Chase in rousing to action the opposition to the new policy of the national Adminis- 
tration on the subject of slavery. The anti-Nebraska party of Michigan met at De- 
troit on the 6th of the same month; and of Indiana on the same day (July 13th) 
that the party met in State Convention in Ohio. More than a thousand accredited 
delegates were present at Columbus ; and other thousands, besides the alternate 
delegates, came with them to aid with counsel and encouragement. The convention 
was somewhat contemptuously called by its enemies a " Chase movement," and an 
attempt to " fuse " Whigs and Free-Soilers, but the real purpose of the gathering 
was well expressed by Judge Spalding, of Cleveland, in these words : " This is not 
an attempt at fusion, but is an attempt to unite the sober judgment of the people 
of Ohio on the outrage perpetrated upon them by the repeal of the Missouri Com- 
prpmise." The organization of this convention denoted the readuiess with which 
old names and issues disappeared in the aspiration for national issues and results. 
An Old-line Democrat was chosen president ; an Old-line Whig vice-president, and 
an original Free-Soiler secretary. The committees were made up chiefly from mem- 
bers of the old parties ; the committee on resolutions containing such well-known 
names both in local and national politics, as David Heaton, William B. Alhson (at 
this time a United Staces Senator from Iowa), General H. B. Carrington, Norton S. 
Townshend, Joseph W. Vance, Rufua P. Spalding, and E. R. Eckley. The resolu- 
tions were in the spirit of the convention, which was full of enthusiasm ; and though 
only two years before General Pierce had carried Ohio by a majority of nearly 
8eventeen thousand votes, the nominees of this 13th of July convention were elected 
in the following October by average majorities of nearly eighty thousand ! It was 
at this same gathering also, that the name " Republican " was formally assumed by 
the anti-Nebraska party of Ohio ; in this, however, following only in the wake of 
the Republicans of Michigan, who had formally adopted that name on the 6th of 
July at thfii" convention in Detroit. 






166 LU'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

yet powerful, and many of its leaders were averse to antislavery 
agitation, and some of these sought to avoid it by forcing into 
the front of political action the vital idea of the Know-Kothing 
society ; but far the larger part of the opposition had little or no 
sympathy with its proscriptive spirit, and Mr. Chase had with it 
no sympathy at all, as was well known. But it was apparent 
that without a union of all the elements of opposition the De- 
mocracy would regain the control of the State. 

A union was effected, and although a large majority of the 
convention which met on the 13th of July were " Americans," 
opposition to slavery was so much stronger among them than 
zeal for the principles of their order, that Mr. Chase was nomi- 
nated by a vote of nearly two to one. The remainder of the 
ticket was made up chiefly of members of the' " American " 
party. 

A considerable number of Whigs, however, who still retained 
against Mr. Chase the animosities which had grown out of his 
election to the Senate in 1849, refused to join in his support.. 
They nominated an " American " candidate, not with any ex- 
pectation of electing him, but in the hope of drawing enough 
votes from Mr. Chase to elect the candidate of the Administra- 
tion party. 

In accepting the Republican nomination, Mr. Chase stated — 
in a few brief and vigorous sentences — ^his conceptions of the 
political needs of the times : 

" On many public questions," he said, " not now directly in 
issue, I have had occasion heretofore to express my opinions in 
various forms. Those opinions remain unchanged. 

" On the great issues now before the people, my opinions 
are expressed in the platform you have this day adopted. 

"The independence and sovereignty of the State, in her 
legislation and judiciary, must be asserted and maintained. 

" The spread of slavery, under all circumstances and at all 
times, must be inflexibly resisted. 

" Slavery in the Territories must be prohibited by law. On 
this point there is the most pressing need of union and resolu- 
tion. Kansas must be saved from slavery by the voters of the 
free States. 

" It was my fortime to bear some humble part in the memo- 



GUBERNATORIAL CANVASS 1855. 16? 

rable struggle wliicli issued in the repeal of tlie Missouri prolii- 
bition. Upon that occasion, though among the most determined 
opponents of the Compromise of 1850, I declared in my place 
that I was ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sup- 
porters of those compromises, now justly incensed by that viola- 
tion of plighted faith, for the redress of that last and greatest 
wrong. 

" In this spirit I am prepared to act to-day. Side by side 
with all men who are willing to unite with me for the defense 
of freedom, I am ready to contend to the last for the rescue of 
the Territories from slavery. 

" I would do no injustice to the slave States. All rights 
guaranteed to them by the Constitution should be fully and 
cheerfully conceded. Whatever can be constitutionally done 
by the national Legislature to promote their progress and im- 
provement, should be unhesitatingly and ungrudgingly done. 

" We should insist only, that outside of slave States we shall 
not be responsible for the maintenance of slavery ; and that the 
just and constitutional influence of the Federal Government 
shall be exerted on the side of liberty. 

" The question of slavery in the States may safely be left to 
the States themselves. The humanity, the justice, the wisdom 
of the people will, I trust, so dispose of it that in the not far- 
distant future a day will come, when the sun in all his course 
over our broad land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, shall not 
behold a slave." 

The campaign which ensued was unusually sharp. Old Whigs 
and old Democrats alike thoroughly hated Mr. Chase. They 
joined in charging him with much the greater part of the politi- 
cal wickedness that had happened in the State since his first ap- 
pearance in political contests ; and it is a remarkable circum- 
stance that Whig journals, forced by public sentiment into his 
support, were scarcely less abusive of him than open enemies. 

He made a vigorous and effective canvass,* speaking in most 

' C. R. M., in the Brooklyn Daily Times of the 2Yth of September, 18*71, in the 
course of a pleasant and graphic sketch of " stump-speakers " and " stump-speaking " 
in Ohio, says of Mr. Chase that " he owed his rapid, complete, and continued ascend- 
ency to an intimate acquaintance with the people, growing out of his ' stumping ' 
the State and the circulation of his printed speeches. For lasting, permanent eifect 



168 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of the counties, correcting misapprehension, disproving the in- 
munerable falsehoods with which he was assailed, and advocating 
with characteristic energy, the principles of universal justice 

on the public opinion of the State, Governor Chase ha3 exerted probably a greater 
mfluence than any of his predecessors. 

" As a ' stump-speaker,' Chase was most untiring and energetic. During and pre- 
ceding his senatorial term no public man in the State made as many speech-es as he 
did. Though the champion, at the period of which I am writing, of a cause intensely 
unpopular, his speeches were listened to and read more extensively than those of any 
other public man in the State. 

" I have frequently heard Chase speak in cross-road school-houses to audiences 
of twenty to fifty ; once in an engine-house in Cincinnati, to an audience of less than 
forty ; in county court-houses to audiences of one hundred to two hundred, and in 
the United States Senate. His speeches, whether in the school-house or in the Sen- 
ate, whether before large or small audiences, were always characterized by the same 
unbending regard for truth and justice, by the same calmness and self-possession, 
by the same strong and clear statement of his case, the same considerate regard for 
the opinions of others. These solid characteristics, with his nobiUty of character, 
his individuality and disinterestedness of purpose, made him irresistible as a leader. 

" Twenty-five years ago I often heard it said, ' What a pity such a man as Chase 
should throw himself away on the worthless cause of abolition ! ' But, in fact. Chase 
never would have acquired much influence as a mere partisan poUtician. It was only 
as a champion of truth and justice that he was strong. 

" As to the effectiveness of Chase as a ' stump-speaker,' I have the best means 
of knowing, from 1849 to 1852, a period when the free Democracy of Ohio and the 
Barnburners of New York were carrying on their brave battle with the slave-power, 
I conducted a newspaper at Toledo, Ohio, with daily and weekly editions. In the 
beginning of our crusade against the slave-power, the Democratic party majorities 
were strong in aU Northwestern Ohio. The Whig party also, at that time, under 
the Fillmore Administration, where it was not hostile, was indifferent to the Free-Soil 
cause. Against aU these adverse influences the free Democracy had to contend ; 
but having access to the people through the press, we printed and circulated Chase's 
speeches, and sent them into every household where they would receive them. We 
appomted frequent meetings, and Senator Chase never failed in responding to the in- 
vitations of our committees to address the people. He was as prompt and thorough 
in going through our congressional districts and delivering ' stump-speeches,' wher- 
ever appointments had been made for him, as he now is in discharging his judicial 
duties at Washington or in distant and remote parts of the Union. 

"The surprising effect of this canvassing — Chase being our leader and chief 
speaker — was, that in a short time the free Democracy gained ascendency in the 
county ; and, in rapid succession, we gained the majority in the Assembly, senato- 
rial and congressional districts. I have always attributed this rapid, complete and 
permanent triumph of the Free-Soil cause in the northwestern counties of Ohio — 
winning that triumph against strong and hostile party organization — mainly to the 
effective influence of Senator Chase as a ' stump-speaker,' supplemented by the in- 
fluence of a friendly press in printing and carrying to every household his masterly 
speeches." 



IS ELECTED GOVERNOR. 169 

upon wliiclt, in Lis younger years — without liope of preferment 
or reward — ^he had staked, unflinchingly, both his personal and 
political fortunes. 

The result of that canvass was decisive of the fate of the 
Democratic party in Ohio for nearly a score of years. IVIr. Chase 
was elected by a decided majority (15,550) in a full vote ; and 
the Kepublican party at once attained to an organization and 
discipline such as the Whig party in the State, in all its long 
career, had never known. 



CHAPTEK XX. 

ME. CHASE AS GOVERNOR EDUCATION ^THE MARGARET GARNER 

TRAGEDY LETTER OF MR. CHASE TO MR. TROWBRIDGE, GIV- 
ING A HISTORY OF THAT CASE. 

« 

AT the time Mr. Chase became Governor of Ohio, the agita- 
tion of questions of national politics was so great as almost 
entirely to obscure, in interest and comparative importance, 
questions of merely State policy. These were, however, the 
usual questions upon which the old parties differed in most of 
the States, and related more particularly to methods of taxation 
and economy of administration, and generally were of purely 
local concern. But he addressed himseK at once to the duties 
of his position ; promoting reforms wherever reforms were prac- 
ticable ; encouraged educational interests, as seemed to him best 
calculated to advance the public good ; * largely reorganized the 

^ In a letter under date of July 6, 1858, addressed to the State Teachers' Asso- 
ciation of Ohio, Mr. Chase gives some ideas touching education. 

" Gentlemen : I regret my absence from the meeting of the Association on my 
own account, for I am thoroughly conscious how meagrely any thing I could say 
would reward the attention of its members. But if I could communicate little I 
could receive much, as I wish to learn all I can in respect to the best means of pro- 
moting the cause of education in our State. 

"In that case, having been myself a teacher, and knowing something of a teach- 
er's responsibilities, trials and aspirations, I naturally and almost necessarily feel a 
lively interest. No safer, no more remunerative investment of revenue is made by 
the State, than in the instruction of the youth. 

" Stinginess here is not economy. It is waste, and the worst description of 
waste — the waste of mind. Of that power originates the energies that make effi- 
cient whatever activities promote private or public prosperity. 

" The school-house is a better institution than the court-house or the State-house. 



THE MARGARET GARNER CASE. 171 

military system of the State ; and lost no opportunity in making 
the voice of Ohio heard on the side of fi'eedom and justice. 
At the same time he endeavored, as far as was practicable, to 
conciliate opposition founded in misapprehension, and to raise 
the position of the State to the highest point of dignity and 
respect attainable among the States of the Union. His public 
papers were models of terse and vigorous wi-iting. The Eepub- 
lican party, when he left the chair, was the most compact and 
powerfxd political organization ever known in the history of 
Ohio. 

"Within a fortnight after he became Governor, a slave-hunt 
took place in the southern part of the State, which, from its cir- 
cumstances of great and peculiar horror, for a time excited an 
absorbed attention. The story of Margaret Garner is best told 
in Mr. Chase's own words, in a letter to Mr. Trowbridge : 

" Washington, March 13, 1864 
" . . . . The Margaret Gamer case is invested with a peculiar interest 

by reason of its tragic circumstances. 

" It is impossible to state the facts except in the merest outline ; but 

even an outline will convey a i^retty accurate idea of the whole transaction. 
" In the night of the 27th of January, 1856, a party of slaves escaped 

In the State-house laws are enacted ; in the court-house laws are applied. In the 
school-house legislators, judges and jurymen are made. 

" Especially the school-house is indispensable where popular government is made 
a reality by universal sufiFrage and general eligibility to office. It is impossible to 
over-estimate the importance of universal education where everybody is to be a 
voter, and where anybody may be a President. 

" To malie the school-house efficient, teachers must not only be qualified but 
honored ! The responsibility of their trust, the magnitude of their work, and the 
dignity of their calling, must be acknowledged, and not coldly acknowledged only, 
but thoroughly appreciated. The community hardly yet begins to reaUze its debt 
of gratitude, honor and reward, it owes to the teachers of the schools. 

" These things are obvious ; but what practical methods are best adapted to 
secure the great end of giving to all the youths of the State the best education they 
are willing to receive and are capable of receiving, is not so clear. 

" What provisions for the education of teachers should be supplied ; how far, if 
at all, the colleges of the State, and especially those more immediately under legisla- 
tive control, may be made parts of the general plan of education, or serviceable to 
the general purpose of educating teachers ; and what may be fitly and economically 
done to extend the benefits of the educational system beyond school-house walla 
by lectures and hbraries, are subjects which doubtless will engage your discussions, 
and in respect of which I should be particularly glad to have the benefit of them." 



173 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

from Boone County, in Kentucky, into Storrs township, adjoining Cincin- 
nati, on the Ohio River. Among the persons comprising the party were an 
old man named Simon Garner and his wife — so far as a slave woman could 
be a wife — Mary; a son of the old man, also named Simon, and Margaret 
his wife, and their four children. 

" They took refuge in the house of a colored man, living near the river's 
bank, below Mill Creek — a stream which divides Storrs from Cincinnati. 
They were tracked immediately, and a warrant for their a2:)prehension was 
obtained the next morning, Monday, the 28th, from one P , a com- 
missioner ajipointed by Justice McLean under the fugitive slave act of 1850. 
Provided with this warrant, the United States marshal — a person named 
Robinson — with a gang of officers and the slave-claimants, hastened to the 
house where the fugitives had taken refuge. Their entrance was resisted. 
Young Simon, who was armed with a six-shooter, fired four shots on the 
party of official and unofficial slave-hunters, before he and his companions 
were captured. While this was going on, his wife Margaret, who was natu- 
rally of a violent temper, and now frenzied by excitement, seized a butcher- 
knife, and, declaring that she would kill all her children before they should 
be taken across the river, actually succeeded in killing one, a little girl of 
ten years of age, named Mary. 

" The survivors were taken in custody, and conveyed to a police 
station. The friends of the slaves procured the same day a writ of habeas 
corpus, returnable before the probate judge of the county ; which was 
executed by the sheriff so far as to take the slaves into custody and con- 
vey them to the county jail. 

" The probate judge immediately proceeded to Columbus, to confer 
with me as to the proper course of procedure. 

" The hostility to abolition, under which name was included all earnest 
antislavery action, was at this time intense in Southern Ohio, and 
nowhere more intense than in Cincinnati. At the election which had been 
held for Governor only three months before, I had received in Hamilton 
County (which includes Cincinnati) only forty-five hundred and eighteen 
votes, out of twenty-three thousand two hundred and eighty. The rest 
— divided between the Democratic and Know-Nothing candidates — repre- 
sented hostility to my political and esj)ecially to my antislavery opinions 
and principles. 

" I had been Governor just fourteen days when the probate judge 
called to confer with me. It was not necessary for me to inform him that, 
in my judgment, the fugitive slave act was unconstitutional ; it had been 
proclaimed on too many occasions to leave in ignorance a man so well 
informed. Nor did I think it right to make any suggestions to a magis- 
trate concerning a decision to be made by him. What he naturally 
desired to know, and had a right to know, was whether the Executive of 
the State would sustain the process of the State in the midst of a commu- 
nity in which, by most persons, any decision against the claims of masters 



THE MARGARET GARNER CASE. 173 

would be regarded as little better than treason to the Constitution and 
Union. I did not hesitate to assure him that the process of the State 
courts should be enforced in every part of the State, whether in Hamilton 
or any other county ; and authorized him to say to the sheriff that, in the 
performance of his duty, he would be sustained by the whole power at the 
command of the Governor. 

" The case — for some reason satisfactory to the friends of the slaves 
— was not brought to a hearing before the probate judge on the writ 
then issued. Proceedings under it were abandoned, and the sheriff had 
already (on Tuesday), before the return of the judge, notified the Federal 
marshal that he did not regard the fugitives as in his custody, though 
they might remain in jail; but as in that of the officers of the United 
States. 

" The slave-act commissioner, under whose warrant the seizure had 
been made, then declared his purpose to proceed to hear the case on the 
claim for surrender; but delays of various kinds were interposed, until 
on Friday, February 8th, the grand-jury of Hamilton County reported an 
indictment against the two Garners for the murder of the child Mary ; 
and all four being still in jail, they were again taken into custody by the 
sheriff. The three children remained in jail also, but were regarded as 
being in the custody of the marshal. 

" Matters remained in this condition for some days — until the marshal 
applied to the United States district judge for a habeas corpus against 
the sheriff for the four fugitives, for the purpose of bringing them before 
him, to determine — not whether they were unlawfully deprived of their 
liberty— but whether the sheriff was entitled to their custody under the 
criminal process of the State, rather than 'the marshal under the slave-act 
commissioner's warrant. 

"It was a manifest abuse of the writ of habeas corpus, thus to convert 
it into a summary replevin ; but the counsel for the sheriff — one of whom, 
in conversation with the judge, had heard him express the opinion that 
the prisoners could not be removed from custody under arrest for crime, 
by any proceeding under the fugitive slave act — made no oi^position to 
the allowance of the writ. It was accordingly granted, and a hearing was 
had on Tuesday, the 26th of February, upon the return of the sheriff, that 
he held the four persons indicted under the process of the State, to abide 
their trial on the charge of murder. 

"After the argument before the district judge was closed, the judge 
allowed the slave-act commissioner to take the bench, and announce his 
decision in the proceeding commenced by his warrant. As was expected, 
he denied the fugitives the claims to freedom asserted in their behalf, and 
ordered that all should be delivered to their respective claimants. 

" The slave-act commissioner in the case was a weak, mercenary fellow ; 
but his decision is written in judicial style, and bears the marks of a very 
different order of intellect from his. Who wrote it ? 



174 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" Meanwhile another writ of habeas corpus had been issued by Judge 
Burgoyne, of the Probate Court, for the three children; on which a hear- 
ing was had before him on the same day — Tuesday, February 26th— on 
which the slave-act commissioner delivered his decision as just stated. 
After many arguments on the constitutionality of the slave act, and par- 
ticularly that part of it which makes United States commissioners judges 
in cases arising under it, he deferred his judgment until Saturday follow- 
ing, having made a special order that the children should not be removed 
from the jurisdiction of the court until final decision. 

"On Thursday morning, however, the United States district judge an- 
nounced his decision in the case which had been argued before him. He 
declared — to the surprise of every one, unless some had foreknowledge of 
his conclusions — that the custody of the sheriff as against the claims of 
the marshal under the fugitive slave act, was unlawful ; and ordered the 
former to deliver the indicted prisoners to the latter. 

" With this order the marshal at once proceeded to the jail, where the 
sheriff delivered to him not only the four indicted prisoners, but also the 
three children, notwithstanding the order of the probate judge as to the 
latter. All the fugitives were at once hurried into an omnibus, which was 
surrounded by a number of special deputy marshals — (there vferejive hun- 
dred of these appointed, the purchase of whose claims for fees, it was said, 
offered a good chance for speculation to certain Federal officers !) — and 
immediately driven to the river, and taken across into Kentucky. Hardly 
an hour elapsed after the United States district judge had made his order 
before the fugitives were lodged in a Kentucky jail. 

" I had observed the proceedings in these cases with great interest and 
a deep solicitude for the fate of the slaves. All that I could do in their 
behalf, under the circumstances then existing, was done. They were rep- 
resented by able counsel, and the power of the State was pledged to main- 
tain the process of the State. No one imagined that any judge could be 
found who would undertake to transfer by a proceeding in habeas corpus, 
prisoners indicted under a State law to Federal custody under the fugitive 
slave act. Nor did any one imagine that persons held under an order of 
a State court, during the pendency of a writ of habeas corp2iS, would be 
carried off beyond the jurisdiction and in violation of that order. But 
such a judge was found, and such an abduction was perpetrated. 

" I could not prevent this any more than I could prevent the commis- 
sion of other outrages. I could not foresee such transactions, and if I 
could have foreseen I had no more power to prevent them than any private 
citizen had ; except in the single contingency that the sherift' might need 
the power of the State to enforce the execution of process in his hands. 
Except in that contingency, I had no power other than that the whole 
weight of which was given to the side of the fugitives in every form of 
counsel, encouragement and support, to those engaged in their defense. I 
was not in Cmcinnati during the proceedings. The Legislature was in 



y 



J 



THE MARGARET GARNER CASE. I75 

session. I had only a fortnight before the capture of the fugitives entered 
into office, wholly without experience in its duties, and my constant pres- 
ence was required at Columbus. Had I been in Cincinnati, I do not see 
that I should have been likely to add any thing to the zeal or ability with 
which the cause of the fugitives was defended, or to suggest any thing 
which did not occur to their counsel. And certainly, if they on the spot 
could devise no way to prevent the surrender and carrying off of the fu- 
gitives under the unforeseen circumstances of that day, it is not wonderful 
that I could devise none while a hundred and twenty miles distant, and 
wholly uninformed of the outrage that was being enacted. 

" Some abolitionists have blamed me because I did not in some way 
prevent the carrying back into slavery of Margaret Garner. They saw 
the tragic circumstances of her seizure, and felt peculiar sympathy for her, 
but they did not see the extraordinary efforts made to save her. That 
those efforts were unsuccessful, all humane persons must lament ; but how 
more effort could be made, or with what more likelihood of success, no 
one has yet pointed out. And no one conversant with the circumstances 
and concerned in the efforts made in her behalf, has found fault with what 
I did. All those approved my action and were grateful for my support. 
It must be remembered, too, that Margaret was but one of seven fugitives, 
each of whom was entitled if not to equal sympathy, certainly to equal 
rights and equal efforts for their protection. None of these were forgot- 
ten or neglected. 

" After they were surrendered, the prosecuting attorney sent me copies 
of the indictment and proceedings, and suggested that although the in- 
dicted prisoners could hardly be considered as having fled from justice in 
Ohio, yet it might be proper to regard them as having constructively done 
so, and to issue a requisition for their delivery to an agent of the State, to 
be brought back within its jurisdiction. I felt keenly the humiliation of 

.- being reduced to this mode of asserting the right of the State to the cus- 
tody of persons indicted under her laws. It was obvious that when re- 
turned to the custody of the sheriff, they would be in precisely the same 
relations as when they were taken from his custody by the order of the 
United States district judge, and there would be no legal obstacle, which 

\did not exist to the original order, to a repetition of it. 

^^" A friend, however, volunteered — if I would issue a requisition — to go 
with the agent and purchase the freedom of the three children, and it 

J seemed probable, if the others could be brought back, that an arrange- 

K ment might be made also with their claimants for the relinquishment of 
their claims upon them. So I overcame my reluctance to adopt the theory 
of constructive escape, and issued the requisition. 

^--"My agent, and the gentleman who had volunteered to accompany 
him, immediately departed on their mission and obtained a warrant of 
extradition from the Governor of Kentucky, who doubtless gladly em- 
braced the opportunity of making a precedent of constructive escape, 



176 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

which he hoped would be useful to claimants of slaves found in Ohio, but 
not actual fugitives from a slave State. 

" With the warrant thus obtained, the agent proceeded to Louisville, 
but the slave-masters continued to evade him, and the slaves were sent 
South notwithstanding our efforts to recover them. 

"Hearing subsequently that Margaret had been brought back to Cov- 
ington, I wrote to the prosecuting attorney to go over and demand her. 
He went, and was told that she had been there, but had again been sent 
to the South. It is doubtful whether she was in fact ever brought back 
there. 

"Nothing has been heard of the Garner family since. Perhaps the re- 
bellion has restored the liberty of which the cause of the rebellion caused 
the loss, and we may yet hear of these slaves as among those rejoicing in 
the new-found freedom which God's providence has given to so many." 



CHAPTEE XXI. 

THE CONSERVATISM OF ME. CHASE " THE GEEENE COTJNTY SLAVE- 

hunt" ACTION OP THE TJ. S. DISTRICT JUDGE FOE THE 

SOUTHERN DISTEICT OF OHIO ^ACTION OF THE STATE COURTS 

SLAVE-SHOOTING ON KANE's CREEK — PUBLIC MEETINGS IN 

OHIO CONFLICT OF FEDERAL AND STATE PE0CE8S THE 

GEEAT RAILWAY CELEBRATION OF 1857 REMARKS OF GOV- 
ERNOR CHASE AT BALTIMORE COLONEL CARRINGTOn's MISSION 

AND INTERVIEW WITH SECRETARY OF STATE CASS INTERVIEW 

OF GOVERNOR CHASE WITH MR. BUCHANAN AND GENERAL 
CASS. 

THE Margaret Garner case was not the only slave-hunt 
wliich took place in Oliio during Mr. Chase's administration. 
There were several such ; two or three of them being of impor- 
tance in their possible consequences. !Not long before the close 
of his first term, an attempt to capture a fugitive agitated the 
western part of the State, and at one time threatened a serious 
collision with the Federal authoifity. 

But Mr. Chase, wliile upholding with a strong hand the inde- 
pendence and dignity of Ohio, never lost sight of the relations 
which so central and powerful a State ought to sustain toward 
the General Government. His administration was not aggres- 
sive, therefore, but was marked by the natui-al and wise conser- 
vatism of liis character. 

On the 15th day of May, 1857, the Deputy U. S. Marshal 
for Southern Ohio, with five citizens of Kentucky, holding a 
warrant issued by a United States commissioner at Cincinnati, 
reached Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and went thence nearly a mile 
into the country to the house of Russell Hyde, in pursuit of a 
12 



178 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

fugitive slave, who had lived there nearly six months, and was 
daily expecting his family to join him in a land of freedom. 
Anderson, the fugitive, took refuge in a loft ; was fired upon by 
one of the party, and returned the fire. The pursuers, who had 
by this time aroused the neighbors, retired from the field and 
returned to Cincinnati. 

On the 27th the party returned, reenf orced ; but Anderson 
meantime had fled and was safe in Canada. Arrests were made, 
however, of Kussell Hyde and three other citizens, charged with 
aiding and abetting the escape of the fugitive. Expecting, as 
they were advised, that they would be examined at Urbana, the 
county-seat, no resistance was made ; but instead of Urbana the 
intended destination was Cincinnati. The proper legal papers 
were prej)ared, upon which a writ of habeas corjous was obtained 
with a view to determine the legitimacy of the arrest, but before 
the sheriff was able to serve the writ, the marshal's posse had 
crossed the county line, into Clark County, and was out of his 
baihwick. A second writ issued out of the Clark County court, 
but the marshal's party, when overtaken, refused to obey the 
wi'it, and before adequate force could be obtained to enforce the 
process, the boundary-line was also crossed. A third writ was 
obtained in Greene County, and was placed in the hands of a 
sufficient posse ^ and was enforced after an exchange of shots 
between the parties. The evidence was conflicting as to which 
party first fired, and touching the conduct of the marshal's assist- 
ants ; but in this connection these facts are not material. 

On the 29th of May the U. S. District Judge for the South- 
ern District of Ohio, issued a wrjt of habeas corpus directing the 
sheriff of Clark County to bring the deputy-marshals arrested 
by him and named in the writ, before that court, and show cause 
for their detention. Meanwhile, several of them had been held 
to bail by State- Justice Christie, of Clark County, on a charge of 
assault with intent to kill, and for want of securities they had 
been placed in confinement. This writ was executed and the 
parties were brought into court. The cause was argued on the 
25th of June ; Attorney-General Christopher P. "Wolcott, by 
direction of Governor Chase,* appearing for the State. Mr. "Wol- 

* The leading Democratic paper of Southern Ohio — the Cincinnati Enquirer — 
commenting on these events, thus closed a " leader : " " The designation of the Attor- 



^ 



"GREENE COUNTY SLAVE-HUNT." I79 

cott declared that " the United States could not go behind the 
State criminal record — that the Federal court could no more go 
behind the power of the State court, than a State court could 
go behind that of a Federal court — otherwise the two Govern- 
ments would come into direct opposition. Both would attempt 
to execute process, and this would end in an appeal to arms." 

In the mean time other events had occurred to excite the 
public mind. On. the 21st of June three slaves started from 
Henry County, Kentucky, crossed the river, and were pursued, 
without process, and found by the claimants behind some logs, 
on Kane's Creek, about four miles from the river. In the course 
of these transactions, one negro was killed, one escaped, and one 
was captured. 

On the 20th of June a mass meeting of the citizens of Clark 
County was held at Charleston, and positive ground was taken 
upon the right of the State to protect her officers in the execu- 
tion of the legitimate process of the State courts. A few days 
later a large meeting was held at Cedarville, at which the skir- 
mish between the deputy-marshal and the posse of the State was 
called the " battle of Lumbarton." 

The attorney who had drawn- the papers for the issue of the 
State writ of habeas corpus, was put under arrest on a warrant 
issued by the TJ. S. Commissioner at Cincinnati, and held in 
bonds of fifteen hundred dollars to answer a charge of resisting 
the arrest of fugitives from labor. 

On the 9th of July, the United States District Judge dis- 
charged the deputy-marshals out of custody; admitting, how- 
ever, that there " was a question whether the marshals had not 
exceeded authority in the use of unnecessary force." 

Thus it happened that both the Federal and State courts 
alike had outstanding process, involving violations of criminal or 
statute law, and each was alike jealous of dignity and prerogative. 

Governor Chase, in this state of affairs, determined upon a 
personal interview with the authorities at Washington; not 
choosing to leave the matter to correspondence and the opposing 
statements of the parties at issue. 

ney-General by Governor Chase to aid the lawyers retained by the Sheriif of Clark 
County, is equivalent to a declaration of war on the part of Chase and his abolition 
crew against the United States courts. Let the war come ; the sooner the better." 



180 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Just at tliis time the great railway celebration of 1857 — at the 
opening of the Ohio & Mississippi, the Marietta & Cincinnati, 
and the northwestern arm of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad — 
occurred, bringing Secretary Cass, Mayor Swann, of Balthnore, 
and many other distinguished citizens, from the Eastern cen- 
tral and the border States to the West, where numerous ex- 
cursions, speeches and social reunions made quite emphatic the 
supposed value of railroads in promoting harmony between the 
sections. 

During the return-trip to Baltimore and Washington, Grov- 
emor Chase — whose words were eagerly watched, in view of his 
well-known antislavery antecedents — took occasion, during a 
banquet given at the Maryland Institute (Baltimore), to express 
the sentiment extracted below. He was introduced to the asseiA- 
bled guests by Mayor Swann, who had been an early and warmly- 
attached friend during his teaching and student-life in Wash- 
ington, and a companion in the law-office of William Wirt: 
" You have spoken eloquently," he said, " of railroads as bonds 
of union ; and your observations were as just as they were elo- 
quent. There must of course be differences of opinion among 
us on some points ; and real giievances may from time to time 
demand redress. But there is no evil for which disunion is the 
projjer cm*e. And the more we see of each other, the less likely 
we shall be to commit the error of thinking otherwise. The 
fact is, that we who live along the line of the American Central 
Railway don't mean to let the Union be broken up. Maryland 
will not consent to it, I think. I trust Virginia will not. Ohio, 
I am sure, will not ; nor Indiana, nor Illinois, nor Missouri. 
Who then, will ? — ^We may differ hereafter as we have differed 
heretofore. We will maintain our respective positions with 
candor, courtesy, firmness and resolution ; and we will refer 
whatever questions may be between us to the great American 
tribunal of popular discussion and popular judgment. But, in 
the time to come, as in the time past, we will cleave to the 
Union as an ark of refuge : and, under God, as our surest 
guarantee of prosperity and power, and abiding glory." These 
words excited a genuine enthusiasm among those who heard 
them. 

— From Baltimore, Governor Chase went to Annapolis, to 



INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT BUCHANAN. ISl 

visit tliere Commodore Goldsborough, then in command of tlie 
ISTaval School — whose wife was a daughter of William Wirt. 
From Annapolis he sent Colonel Carrington, of his staff, to 
Washington ; Colonel Carrington's mission being to arrange an 
interview for Mr. Chase with President Buchanan, and his 
Secretary of State at that time, General Cass. Colonel Car- 
rington carried with him a memorandum containing Mr. Chase's 
general views in relation to the threatened conflict between the 
Federal and State authorities in Ohio. In his conference with 
General Cass, Colonel Carrington stated that Governor Chase 
was as earnest in support of Federal authority, legitimately exer- 
cised, as he was in support of the authority of the State ; but 
that he should feel compelled to protect the State officials in 
the exercise of their duties, and the State courts in the exer- 
cise of their legitimate functions, if it took every man in the 
State to do it. To this General Cass ' responded by saying that 
such a course miglit involve the country in the most serious 
consequences. " Time," said he, " will surely rid us of slavery ; 
and we must tolerate its crosses as best we can while it lasts. 
But if the peace should once be broken, God only knows what 
the end would be. How is peace to be preserved," he asked, 
" if the States once bristle in arms, and only await opportunity 
openly to contend ? " Colonel Carrington, adhering closely to 
the instructions of his memorandum, said that no one would 
more deplore a conflict than Governor Chase. Mr. Chase sin- 
cerely desired to prevent even the possibility of one, and his 
solution was, that if the United States District Attorney at Cin- 
cinnati should be instructed to drop all suits against citizens of 
the State, a similar course might be adopted by the State 
toward the marshal and his deputies (who had undoubtedly ex- 
ceeded their powers), and the excitement might be thus allayed 
without a breach of the peace. An interview was arranged ac- 

' It may be observed here, that General Cass and Governor Chase bad long been 
sincere and intimate friends ; very especially during the senatorial career of the 
latter, when General Cass was accustomed to say that " Chase was as good a Demo- 
crat as anybody, but that he was radical and advanced on the slavery question." 
Upon the culmination of the pro-slavery pressure on Mr. Buchanan in the winter of 
1860-61, Mr. Chase was one of the friends who urged General Cass to a prompt 
withdrawal from the Cabinet, rather than support a position fatal to his reputation, 
and certainly abhorrent to his principles of political duty. 



182 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

cordingly, between the President and Governor Chase, at which 
the Secretary of State was to be present, and on the next day 
an interview took place, the result of it being that the prose- 
cutions were soon after dropped without embarrassment to 
either jurisdiction. 

" In this case, as in the Garner case," wrote Mr. Chase to 
Mr. Trowbridge, " I exerted all the power the Constitution gave 
me for the vindication of the rights which the Constitution 
guaranteed. 

"•The decision of the United States District Judge in this 
case, Hke that in the Gamer case, denied the right of the State 
to execute its own criminal process or civil process, where the 
execution interfered with the claims of masters under the fugi- 
tive slave law. 

" These transactions made a profound impression upon the 
public mind, and no doubt contributed much to the political 
revolution which took place in 1860." 



CHAPTER XXII. 



HEOEGANIZATIOlSr OF THE MILITAKY SYSTEM OF OHIO CONVEISr- 

TION OF MILITAEY OFFICERS EXTRACT FROM COLONEL PAR- 

SONS'S REPORT ON THE MILITARY SYSTEM — GROWING IMPOR- 
TANCE OF THE NEW ORGANIZATION ITS EFFICACY AND USE- 
FULNESS IN A PERILOUS CONJUNCTURE " THE BRESLIN DEF- 
ALCATION" — Gibson's concealment of it — prompt action 

OF GOVERNOR CHASE NOMINATED FOR REELECTION DIFFI- 
CULTIES OF THE CANVASS HIS GREAT LABORS IN CONDUCTING 

IT SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS A MODEL PAPER JOHN 

brown's raid INTO VIRGINIA GOVERNOR WISE FEARS AN 

INVASION FROM OHIO HIS LETTER TO GOVERNOR CHASE 

GOVERNOR chase's CHARACTERISTIC REPLY EXTRACT FROM 

HIS LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE ^REELECTED TO UNITED STATES 

SENATE. • 

SOO]^ after becoming Governor, Mr. Chase turned his atten- 
tion to a reorganization of the military system of the 
State. He advised the legislation necessary to effect that end, 
and in March, 185Y, an act was passed which to some extent, at 
any rate, met the requirements suggested. 

He promptly appointed his military staff, and took immediate 
measures for the organization and equipment of the new militia 
establishment. 

In January, 1858, a State Convention of the officers of the 
volunteer militia, organized under the act referred to, was held 
at Columbus, over which the Governor presided. Positive orders 
had been issued that arms should be issued only to uniformed 
organizations, and there were present at the convention — as dele- 



184 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

gates from tlie various divisions and brigades — one hundred and 
sixtj-five officers, a large number of whom were afterward effi- 
cient in active service during the rebellion, including such men 
as Generals William H. Lytle, James B. Steadman, Q. A. Jones, 
John Ferguson, and James H. Cantwell. 

In addressing the convention Governor Chase said : " Let 
me assure you, gentlemen, that I regard an organized volunteer 
force — in whfch no one is compelled to enlist, and which depends 
for its strength upon the individual promptings of the hearts of 
those who compose it — as well worthy of respect as it is in 
accordance with the spirit of our republican institutions. In 
such an organization I see peace secured in every community, 
and the surest guarantee for safety against invasion from without. 
In assisting to complete it, you will never find me wanting." 

Responsive to the views of the Governor, the assembled offi- 
cers resolved, among other things : " That as our Government is 
one in which the people are their own rulers, and the Govern- 
ment derives its support from the people, it is of vital importance 
that standing armies of magnitude should never be introduced ; 
and that, in view of this fundamental republican principle, it is 
necessary that a citizen soldiery should be well organized, to pro- 
tect the rights of all the people and defend the Government in 
an times of danger;" and "that the experience of the old 
States and of our larger cities proves the necessity of such a 
military organization ; ^nd that, while seventeen States are, by 
pecuniary outlay, fostering and strengthening their militia, and 
that, while it is undeniable that their cities have been saved from 
riot and untold sacrifice of life and treasure by virtue of such 
organized militia, it is not wise, in the third State in this Union, 
to stand alone, and be the only leading State to refuse pecuniary 
aid to those who are ready to give time and substance to the 
development of a weU-regulated and restricted military system." 

This convention — which, it is perhaps proper to obsei-ve, 
was composed of men of all parties, many of whom had served 
ably and well upon the battle-fields of Mexico — through its 
appropriate committees, di-ew up such amendments and modifi- 
cations of the law of March, 1857, as were warranted by expe- 
rience and judgment. The principal amendment was for the 
establishment of a mihtary fund, to be appropriated to the care 



REORGANIZATION OF STATE MILITIA SYSTEM. 185 

of the arms of tlie State, to providing armories in tlie counties, 
and to the purchase of camp-equipages and the like, for the volun- 
teer companies. In presenting these proposed modifications in 
the Ohio House of Representatives, at the session of 1859, Colo- 
nel Richard C. Parsons, of Cleveland, offered a report from 
the Military Committee (prepared upon consultation with Gov- 
ernor Chase, and at his wish), which closed in these words : "It 
has passed into a truism, that ' in time of peace we should j)re- 
pare for war.' It is one upon which we should act — act in view 
of a wise provision for our future — act in view of the history of 
the past. At present our State and nation are blessed with 
- peace. I trust this state of things will long continue. But the 
time may come when all will be changed. It may become 
necessary for our nation, and for our State, that we shaU appeal 
to arms for the protection of our rights. It may be that the 
time wiU come when a well-disci]3lined, perfectly organized and 
equipped citizen soldiery shall form a tower of strength. If 
this be so, I have faith to believe that in that day the ' Ohio 
State Volunteers ' will prove true to the trust reposed in them. 
Identified, as they are and wiU be, with every fibre of our State 
government ; fighting, as they will be, for all that they hold 
dear; strong in the consciousness of numbers, discipline and 
education ; backed by the people and acknowledged by the peo- 
ple, they will demonstrate again the truth that it is our country's 
tnilitia instead of its army, that we can rely upon in case of 
actual danger." 

Dming the summer of 1858 such progress was made tow- 
ard a substantial organization, that a general review was held 
by the Governor on the 3d of July — at which time seven 
companies of artillery paraded, and infantry commands were 
present from the First, Second, Third, Eighth, and Seventeenth 
Divisions. 

At the close of the year the Adjutant-General of the State 
(Colonel Carrington, afterward of the Eighteenth United States 
Infantry) reported the force to be one hundred and fifty compa- 
nies, and that ten battalions had been organized and equipped ; 
whereas, prior to 1857, not a single regiment existed in the. 
State. 

During the same year Governor Chase caused his adjutant- 



186 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

general to publish a volume of military regulations; and to 
tliis, in 1861, by autbority of tbe General Assembly of the 
State, tactics were added, making together a volume of more 
than four hundred pages. That officer was also sent to I^ew 
York and Massachusetts, to attend brigade and regimental 
reviews and field exercises in those States, for the pui-pose of 
making practical observations and securing such helps as would 
assist in bringmg the Ohio volunteer militia up to a standard of 
actual efficiency. 

Of the character of this volunteer system, thus practically 
initiated and organized by Governor Chase — ^in despite of the 
foohsh and persistent ridicule heaped upon it by the enemies of 
his administration — and of its great usefulness at a critical and 
important conjimcture of public affairs, it is only necessary to 
state that within sixty hours after receipt of President Lincoln's 
first call, in April, 1861, for seventy-five thousand volunteers — 
including a caU upon Ohio for two regiments — twenty compa- 
nies of this command were started for Washington by Governor 
Dennison, successor to Governor Chase ; and that notwithstand- 
ing a partial dechne of the volunteer mihtia, and want of legis- 
lative support, Governor Dennison was enabled to send into 
Western Yirginia nine full regiments of State militia before her 
first United States volunteers were mustered into the service. 

One of the most painful of the duties devolved on Governor 
Chase during his first term grew out of the " Breslin defalca- 
tion," and its concealment by Gibson, Breslin's successor in the 
important office of Treasurer of State. BresHn had misap- 
plied, during his incumbency, nearly haM a million of dollars, 
— and the defalcation was adroitly concealed from Governor 
Chase and all the other State officers, for almost a year and a 
half after they came into office. Gibson succeeded in this 
by representing the money ias having been actually received 
from Breslin (who was Gibson's brother-in-law), and as being 
actually in the Treasury, and by deceiving the legislative 
committees, and those officers of the State whose duty it 
was to examine into its condition. Without going into the 
methods of this concealment, it is enough to say that it was 
successful until July, 1857, when, finding it impossible to 
provide sufficient funds to pay the interest on the State debt 



THE BRESLIN DEFALCATION. 187 

accrued and due in that month, Gibson disclosed the defalca- 
tion to the Auditor of the State, and the Auditor communicated 
the fact to the Governor. . Mr. Chase at once went to the Treas- 
urer's office, and after some conversation which more precisely 
disclosed the facts, insisted upon Gibson's immediate resignation. 
Gibson denied the Governor's authority to require it. The 
Governor admitted that he had no such authority, but added 
that as Gibson had represented the money which had been 
abstracted as having been actually in the Treasury, and now 
admitted that it was not there, he was — upon his own showing 
— a defaulter ; and the Governor said he could not accept Gib- 
son's explanation to be true until established by proof. He 
went on to say that the constitution of the State authorized the 
Governor to fill any State office made vacant by disability, and 
that he should take the responsibility, if Gibson did not resign, 
of assuming the fact of the defalcation and instituting a prose- 
cution against him as the author of it ; the first step in which 
would be, his arrest ; and of considering his arrest as creating a 
disability, and thereupon of appointing his successor. Gibson 
saw the force and logic of the Governor's position, and asked 
time to consider and consult his legal advisers. Mr. Chase as- 
sented, and fixed two o'clock in the afternoon (it being then 
about eleven in the morning) as the hour at which he would 
expect Gibson's decision. He called again at the hour agreed 
upon. Gibson meantime had consulted with his friends and 
his lawyers; their counsel was indicated by his action — he 
handed the Governor his resignation; his successor was ap- 
pointed, gave the necessary bonds, and entered upon his duties 
that very afternoon; and he afterward, in another office, be- 
came also a defaulter, and died by suicide. 

Governor Chase took upon himself this summary method of 
action as a duty he owed to the State, and as necessary to pro- 
tect its interests, and incidentally to defend the party which had 
put him into the Executive office from virtual responsibihty for 
the defalcation. He saved the credit of the State by taking 
immediate measm-es to provide — and did provide — money for 
the payment of the July interest. 

Soon after this event, Mr. Chase was again nominated for 
Governor ; this time by acclamation, and seriously against his 



188 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

wishes. The election of Mr. Buchanan in the fall of the pre- 
ceding year ; the lassitude and depression which usually follow 
defeat in a presidential campaign ; ajid above all, the defalca- 
tion — which the enemies of his administration did not hesitate 
to charge upon the Governor himself — made the canvass for re- 
election peculiarly disagreeable and difficult. He was obliged 
to go through the State, and everywhere explain the facts to the 
people. In effect he conducted the canvass entirely alone, for 
there was no congressional election in that year to awaken an 
interest in national topics and secure the help of candidates for 
Congress pleading their own cause before their own constituen- 
cies. There was an American candidate in the field as before, 
and he was oj^posed on the Democratic side by a man of great 
energy and ability — Payne, of Cuyahoga. But despite all op- 
posing influences, he was reelected by a small majority — less 
than fifteen hundi-ed — and ran somewliat ahead of the average 
of the ticket. 

Some conception of the vast labor he performed during this 
second canvass may be gathered from a letter written to his 
youngest daughter under date Columbus, September 13, 1857 : 

" Since I wrote you last, I have traveled much and have made many 
speeches — partly about the defalcation ; partly about slavery, and partly 
about other things. First, I went to Loveland ; then up across the coun- 
try to Marietta, traveling all night to get there (Tuesday night of week 
before last) — and where I made a speech to a large crowd of people. I 
rode about twenty miles the same evening to Coolville, in Athens County, 
where I made another speech. I went next morning to Pomeroy, and 
made two speeches ; one in the forenoon and another in the afternoon. 
The next morning I went in a carriage to Gallipolie, where I spoke to the 
people in the court-house. My next speech was to be made at Ironton — 
more than fifteen miles distant — the next day. We had to go by carriage, 
and started immediately after I was through my speech at Gallipolis. The 
road was very rough ; and two miles from the town one of the horses 
became so lame that he could not travel, and we 'had to return on foot. 
We procured another pair of horses ; started again and traveled all night, 
without stopping, and even then did not reach Ironton till about nine 
o'clock in the morning. There I made a speech in the afternoon ; and 
you may depend upon that I was glad the next day was Sunday, when I 
could rest and go to church instead of speaking. Monday came but too 
soon, and I had to go to Portsmouth, where I went in a carriage, and made 
a speech in the market-place. The next day I went to Jackson by rail- 



SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 189 

road ; and the next day by carriage to Piketon, and made a speech in each 
place. From Piketon I was compelled to make another long, long jour- 
ney by carriage to West Union in Adams County. We started at four 
o'clock in the afternoon and got to West Union at four o'clock the next 
morning, I made a speech here to twelve or fifteen hundred people ; and 
immediately afterward I went along with an old friend named King, to 
Decatur, where I spoke in a church at night. When I was done I had 
still to ride twelve miles to Mr. King's, about two miles from Georgetown, 
where I spoke the next day and staid all night. The next day after that 
was Saturday, and I went onward to Batavia and there made my last 
speech for the week^and then rode over to Milford, and took the cars, 
and reached home between ten and eleven at night. To morrow I go to 
Cincinnati." 

Governor Cliase's second inaugural address was delivered on 
the llth of January, 1858, and is a model paper. " The will 
of the people," he said, addressing himself according to official 
forms, to his fellow-citizens of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives^ " expressed in the mode prescribed by the constitu- 
tion, has summoned me, for the second time, to the duties and 
responsibihties of the chief magistracy of Ohio; and I have 
now, in your presence, taken upon myself the solemn obligation 
of an oath to perform them faithfully. 

" During the two years since I was first honored with this 
trust, it has been my constant endeavor to acquit myself of it 
as became a citizen devoted to the institutions of this State, and 
bound by eveiy obligation of honor and gratitude to the faith- 
ful service of the people. I may not say that I have committed 
no errors. Doubtless some things have been omitted which 
might have been done, and some things done which might have 
been better done. But I may say, and it does not seem unfit 
that I should say, here in this presence — fearing no contradic- 
tion of any truthful man who knows the truth — that all my acts 
have been designed to promote the highest interests of the State, 
and that my best faculties and my most earnest endeavors have 
been entirely and unremittingly devoted to her service. 

"Assuming now, once more, in obedience to the popular 
voice, this responsible trust, my past must stand sole sponsor for 
my future. Larger experience and better information wiU, 
I trust, enable me to accomplish something more for the 
public good than has been hitherto effected ; but my aims. 



190 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

my purposes, and my principles of action must remain un- 
clianged. 

" You will not expect of me, on this occasion, any discussion 
of civil or political questions. I have already made known to 
you my views in relation to public affairs. That these views 
will meet your concurrence in all respects, it would be presump- 
tion in me to anticipate ; but there is one point at least, where 
all our judgments, all our purposes, and all our exertions may 
well join. The common good should be, and I trust will be, 
our common aim. Under our fortunate policy, no king — ^no 
aristocracy — no arbitrary power — no privileged class — can claim 
to be the State. The welfare, the honor, the advancement in all 
things good and noble of the State, is nothing else than the wel- 
fare, the honor, the advancement of the people and the whole 
people. To these great objects, however we may differ as to 
the best means of promoting them, we may well join in address- 
ing the most strenuous exertions of our highest powers. 

"It is not our part, happily, to lay the foundations of insti-' 
tutions. That work is done, and well done, to our hands. It 
is our singular felicity to be citizens of the first State of the 
Union, organized, through the wise providence of the founders 
of the republic, upon the ' fundamental principles of civil and 
religious liberty,' which they declared to be the basis of all 
American law and all American constitutions. In the organi- 
zation of other States, unfriendly circumstances had permitted 
only the partial application of these principles. In the organi- 
zation of this no such circumstances interposed their evil influ- 
ences. The institutions of Ohio were formed in precise har- 
mony with the ideal of a State as it existed in the minds of the 
master-builders of the Confederacy and of the Union. This 
ideal demanded, first of all, the absolute freedom of every indi- 
vidual guaranteed and secured by impartial law ; next, inviola- 
bility of conscience, and just protection to all forms of worship 
and all religious organizations ; then, the sacred observance of 
compacts ; then, the promotion of religion, morality, and knowl- 
edge, by universal education. There was nothing narrow, noth- 
ing illiberal, nothing unjust, in this ideal. It welcomed the im- 
migrant to the freest participation with the home-bom in the 
inestimable blessings of popular institutions. It pledged the 



JOHN BROWN'S INVASION OF VIRGINIA. 191 

State, to be founded under it, to pei-petual union with her sis- 
ter States. It established sovereignty of the people upon the 
indestructible — and the only indestructible — ^foundation, that of 

the RIGHTS OF MAN. 

" Organized under these auspices and in accordance with this 
ideal, Ohio may justly be styled the model State of the Amer- 
ican Union. It is an honorable — a gratifying distinction. Let 
it be our care that its lustre be sullied by no act or omission of 
ours. Upon the soil thus consecrated to liberty and union — 
upon the foundations thus wisely laid of equality and justice — 
let us go on, in humble dependence upon Divine favor, to 
build yet broader and higher, the noble edifice of a truly demo- 
cratic and truly republican State ; never forgetting that man 
is more than institutions, and rights the sole vital principle of 
law." 

In the last year of Mr. Chase's service as Governor, John 
Brown's invasion of Virginia shocked and astonished the coun- 
try. In the South it aroused fearful forebodings of danger, and 
reports spread rapidly through Yirginia, and indeed through all 
the slave States, that large bodies of men were being organized 
in Ohio and the free States, for the purpose of rescuing Brown 
and his associates from their captors ; or, in case they were exe- 
cuted, to seize citizens of Yirginia and hold them as hostages. 
Governor Wise, of Yirginia, thought these reports of sufficient 
importance to justify official action. He accordingly addressed 
a letter to President Buchanan, stating the apprehensions exist- 
ing in consequence of the reported organizations, and declared 
that, " if another invasion should assail the State of Yirginia, he 
should. 2)ursue the invaders into any territory^ and punish them 
whenever they could be reached by arms." Governor Wise in- 
closed a copy of this letter to Governor Chase, and repeated his 
purpose to pursue invaders into adjoining States. " Necessity," 
he said, " may compel us to do so. But if it does, you may be 
assured that it will be done with no disrespect to the sovereignty 
of your State ; but tliis State expects the confederate duty to be 
observed of guarding your territory from becoming dangerous 
to our peace and safety, by affording places of depot and ren- 
dezvous to lawless desperadoes who may seek to make war upon 
our people." Governor Chase's reply was characteristic : 



192 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

, " ConjMBUs, December 1, 1859. 

" SiK : Your letter of the 25th ultimo, post-marked 26th, together with 
a copy of one of the same date addressed to the President, was received 
yesterday. No intelligence other than that contained in these letters has 
reached me of any such preparations as are described in them, and the let- 
ters themselves convey no such information in respect to place or persons 
as is necessary to enable the authorities of this State, in the absence of 
other intelligence, to interpose with any certainty or effect. Whenever it 
shall be made to appear, either by evidence transmitted by you or other- 
wise, that unlawful combinations are being formed by any persons or at 
any place in Ohio for the invasion of Virginia, or for the commission of 
crimes against her people, it will undoubtedly become the duty of the Ex- 
ecutive to use whatever power he may possess to break up such combina- 
tions and defeat their unlawful purposes ; and that duty, it need not be 
doubted, will be promptly performed. 

•' I observe vrith regret an intimation in your letter that necessity may 
compel the authorities of Virginia to pursue invaders of her jurisdiction 
into the territories of adjoining States. It is to be hoped that no circum- 
stances will arise creating in their opinion such a necessity. Laws of the 
United States, as well as the laws of Ohio, indicate the mode in which 
persons charged with crime in another State and escaping into this may 
be demanded and must be surrendered ; and the people of this State will 
require from her authorities the punctual fulfillment of every obligation to 
the other members of the Union. They cannot consent, however, to the 
invasion of her territory by armed bodies from other States, even for the 
purpose of pursuing and arresting fugitives from justice. 

"I have the honor to be, 

" Very respectfully yours, 

" S. P. Chase. 

" His Excellency Henkt A. "Wise, Governor, etc., etc., etc," 

!N"o further correspondence took place on the subject ; tlie 
reported organizations being of course false. 

In bis last annual message, delivered to tbe Legislature on 
the 2d of January, 1860, Governor Chase said : " I doubt not 
that I expressed the sentiments of our common constituents, 
when I declared my conviction that it is the duty of the Execu- 
tive authorities of Ohio to exercise whatever power the law may 
vest in them for the suppression of unlawful combination against 
the peace and safety of other members of the Federal Union ; 
and that the people of Ohio, while they will suffer no invasion 
of their own territory, will countenance no invasion of the ter- 
ritory of other States ; but, expecting from them the fulfillment 



EXTRACT FROM LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE. 193 

of every constitutional obligation, will require of their own 
authorities the prompt perf oi-mance of reciprocal duties. 

" While we will not disavow just admiration of noble quali- 
ties by whomsoever displayed, we must not the less but rather 
the more earnestly condemn all inroads into States, not merely 
at peace with us, but united to us by the bond of political union, 
and all attempts to excite within their borders servile insurrec- 
tions, necessarily tending to involve the country in the calami- 
ties of civil as well as servile war. 

" That a spirit of distrust and alienation has arisen in the 
country, it were idle to deny. That it is not shared in any great 
degree by the masses in either section is, I trust, equally time. 
The people desire union and concord, not discord and disunion. 

" Claiming no absolute exemption from blame in behaK of 
the free States, we cannot admit their liability to exclusive cen- 
sure. In repeated instances, without pretense of justification, 
the territory of Ohio has been clandestinely entered and peace- 
ful inhabitants, guilty of no crime but color, have been cruelly 
kidnapped. The fugitive slave act — necessarily repugnant to 
public sentiment, and believed by a large majority to be un- 
constitutional in some of its conspicuous provisions — has been 
executed within her limits with circumstances of aggravation 
which could not fail to excite the deepest feeling ; and cases 
have not been wanting where her citizens, travehng on lawful 
business in slave States, on mere suspicion of obnoxious senti- 
ments, have been subjected to espionage and indignity, to arrest 
and imprisonment. To these particular causes of complaint 
must be added the general grievance of 'the repeal of the Mis- 
souri prohibition, manifesting the determination of a large ma- 
jority of the slaveholding class to extend slavery throughout 
the national Temtories. 

" ^Notwithstanding these causes of complaint, and in confi- 
dent expectation of their ultimate removal, through the influence 
of better information and juster sentiments, the people of Ohio 
have held fast to the Constitution and the Union ; ever respect- 
ing all the rights of all the States and of all the citizens of the 
States ; never resisting with illegal force even the execution of 
the fugitive slave act by Federal oflBcers acting under legal 
warrants. 

13 



194: LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" Oliio Las uttered no menace of disunion wlien the Ameri 
can people have seen fit to intrust the powers of the Federal 
Government to citizens of other political views than those of 
a majority of her citizens. 'No threats of disunion in a similar 
contingency by citizens of other States will excite in her any 
sentiments save those of sorrow and reprobation. They 
will not move her from her course. She will neither dissolve 
the Union herseK, nor consent to its dissolution by others. 
Faithful to the covenant of the ordinance, she will resist the 
extension of slavery ; confirmed in the principles of the Consti- 
tution, she will oppose its nationalization. True to the faith in 
which her youth was nurtured, and calm in the consciousness of 
her matured strength, she will abide in the Union, and, under 
the Constitution, maintain liberty. 

" Let us hope that good counsel may yet prevail ; that differ- 
ences may be composed by a return to the faith of the fathers 
and to the original policy of the republic ; and that our whole 
country, thus relieved from existing causes of dissension, may 
once more present to the admiration of the world the spectacle 
of a great and prosperous community of united States, protected 
in their industry and defended in their rights by the equal laws 
and impartial administration of State and Federal Governments. 
To this end, at least, no effort of ours will be wanting." 

On the 2d of February, 1860, Mr. Chase was reelected to 
the Senate of the United States ; the people of Ohio thus, fol* 
the third time since his first election, in 1849, and by decisive 
votes, indorsing all his public career. His election was the 
spontaneous work of the Republican party, and was unsought 
by any act of Mr. Chase, and was thoroughly gratifying to the 
Republicans throughout the country. Out of one hundred and 
thirty-five votes cast in joint convention of the Legislature, Mr. 
Chase received seventy-six. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

PKESIDENTIAL CANVASS OF 1856, AlO) IN 1860 — -WANT OF INFLU- 
ENCE OF OHIO DELEGATION IN CHICAGO CONVENTION ELEC- 
TION OF MR. LINCOLN WITHDRAWAL OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

FROM THE UNION LETTER OF MR. CHASE TO RANDALL HUNT 

GOES TO SPRINGFIELD BY INVITATION OF MR. LINCOLN — IN- 
TERVIEWS WITH MR. LINCOLN CONDITIONAL OFFER OF TREAS- 
URY DEPARTMENT LETTER TO GOVEJINOR SEWARD — PEACE 

CONFERENCE CALLED BY LEGISLATURE OF VIRGENIA MR. 

CHASE ATTENDS AS A DELEGATE FROM OHIO — SPEECH IN THE 

CONFERENCE THE CONFERENCE A FAILURE — ^APPOINTMENT AS 

SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY RESIGNS HIS 8ENAT0RSHIP. 

MAISTT Republicans tliroughout the country were earnestly 
in favor of tlie nomination of Mr. Chase for the presi- 
dency so early as 1856. But slavery-conservatism was at that 
time yet predominant in the party, and the party itseK was not 
dominant in the nation, nor was it likely to become so except 
by judicious concessions both as to candidates and platform. 
The nomination of a statesman of the avowed convictions and 
character of Mr. Chase, was forbidden upon every principle of 
party expediency, and although some leading men thought it 
would be better to do otherwise, the Philadelphia Convention of 
1856 presented to the country the name of Colonel John C. 
Fremont. The alliteration of " Free speech, free men, and Fre- 
mont," it was believed would be weightier with the mass of the 
voters of the country than any guarantee of practical ability, su- 
periority of character, and long pubhc experience. Ko doubt 
the convention was right. But if the convention did not present 



196 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the name of a known capable statesman as the standard-bearer of 
the party, or that of a citizen strongly identified with the advo- 
cacy of its fundamental ideas, it made some measure of compen- 
sation for this important neglect, by the boldness of its avowals 
upon the paramount question before the country. It declared, 
as the basis of its action, unequivocal hostility to slavery and sla- 
very-extension. It resolved, " That, with our republican fathers, 
we hold it to be a self-evident truth, that all men are endowed 
with inahenable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness ; that the primary object and ulterior design of our Federal 
Government were, to secure these rights to all persons within 
its exclusive jurisdiction; and that, as our republican fathers, 
when they had aboHshed slavery in all our national territory, 
ordained that no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property, without due process of law, it becomes our duty to 
maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts 
to violate it for the purpose of establishing slavery in any terri- 
tory of the United States, by positive legislation prohibiting its 
existence therein ; that we deny the authority of Congress, of 
a territorial Legislature, of any individual or association of indi- 
viduals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the 
United States, while the present Constitution shall be main- 
tained ; " and " that the Constitution confers upon Congress 
sovereign power over the Territories of the United States for 
their government ; and that in the exercise of this power, it is 
both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the 
Territories those twin relics of barbarism — polygamy and 
slavery." 

The Democratic party of 1856, " claiming fellowship with 
and desiring the cooperation of all who regard the preservation 
of the Union under the Constitution as the paramount issue, and 
repudiating all sectional parties and platforms concerning domes- 
tic slavery," recognized and adopted the principles embodied in 
the organic laws establisliing the Territories of Kansas and ISTe- 
braska, " as embodying the only sound and safe solution of the 
slavery question, upon which the great national idea of the peo- 
ple of this whole country can repose in its determined conserva- 
tion of the Union, and non-interference with slavery in the Ter- 
ritories or the District of Columbia." 



THE PRESIDENCY IN 1856 AND 1860. I97 

The " American party " interjected a candidate and platform 
into the canvass ; but with no expectation of success. 

Although Mr. Chase had another preference, he supported 
Colonel Eremont cordially and effectively. Ohio gave a splen- 
did majority for the national KepubKcan ticket ; but the result of 
the election showed the continued great vitality of the Demo- 
cratic party. Mr. Buchanan received a total of 1,838,169 votes, 
Colonel Fremont 1,341,264, and Mr. Fillmore 8Y4,534. Of the 
electoral votes Mr. Buchanan had 1Y4 ; a clear majority of 60. 

During the four years immediately following upon the elec- 
tion of Mr. Buchanan the name of Mr. Chase grew more familiar 
to the people of the country, and as the time drew near for the 
nomination of a Republican candidate in 1860, attracted a wide 
attention, and his supporters were to be found in every congres- 
sional district in the free States, and he was not without friends 
even in some slave districts. The steady and excellent course of 
his administration in Ohio was warmly admired by the KepubH- 
cans, and had extorted praise even from political enemies. The 
position of the Repubhcan party, however, was not materially 
changed from what it had been in 1856 ; it did not command a 
majority of the voters of the country, and indeed had made no 
decisive accessions of strength since its first attemj)t in the presi- 
dential field. Conservatism still held sway in its councils ; and 
the success of the party in 1860 as in 1856 depended, therefore, 
upon a judicious selection of candidates and a defensible plat- 
form ; but more than either upon divisions in the camps of its 
enemies. These divisions happened, and are too essentially a 
part of the history of the war of the rebellion to need recapitu- 
lation here. 

The Republican State Convention of Ohio, called to elect 
senatorial delegates to the ITational Convention to be held in 
Chicago in May, was held in March, 1860, and declared the pref- 
erence of the Republicans of the State for the nomination of 
Governor Chase. This expression of preference was an entirely 
dehberate proceeding, having been made upon a call and vote of 
the counties separately ; the vote standing, for such expression 
three hundred and eighty-five, and against it sixty-nine. But 
the Convention chose only fom* delegates at large, or senato- 
rial delegates so called ; the congressional delegates being chosen 



198 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

bj conventions held in the several Congress districts. By tliis 
arrangement opportunity was given for the friends of other can- 
didates to excite divisions, and to secure in some of the districts 
delegates unfriendly to Mr. Chase. 

"When the Chicago Convention met, the disagreement of the 
Ohio delegation was utterly destructive of its influence. "With- 
out its united action, there was little ground to expect for Mr. 
Chase the support of delegations from other States ; and in any 
event his nomination was perhaps unlikely, but he had numerous 
friends in the convention who, had the Ohio delegation shown 
a compact front, would have united to secure his nomination. 
But union was impossible. Mr. Chase received a respectable 
support, notwithstanding: on the first ballot forty-nine votes, 
on the second forty-two and a half, and on the third twenty-four 
and a half. 

The nomination of Mr. Lincoln was entirely satisfactory to 
Mr. Chase ; and in the bitter and protracted canvass which fol- 
lowed, he took an active and important part. 

Although preceding the election, none doubted that Mr. Lin- 
coln would be chosen, the event itseK was followed by a vast in- 
crease in the excitement and agitation already prevailing through- 
out the country. In the South the people proceeded to prompt 
action, with a view to immediate disunion. South Carolina led 
the way. " No sooner," says Mr. Pollard in his history of " The 
Lost Cause," " had the telegraph announced the election of 
Abraham Lincoln* President of the United States, than the 
State of South Carolina prepared for a deliberate withdi-awal 
from the Union. Considering the argument as fully exhausted, 
she determined to resume the exercise of her rights as a sovereign 
State ; and for this purpose her Legislature called a convention. 
The convention assembled in Columbia on the lYth of Decem- 
ber, 1860. Its sessions were held in a church, over which floated 
a flag bearing the device of a palmetto-tree, with an open Bible 
at its trunk, with the inscription: 'God is our refuge and 

* Before the war presidential electors of South CaroUna were chosen by the Leg- 
islature of the State, on the same day in which presidential electors were elected by 
the people in the other States. The Legislature remained in session in 1860 after 
meeting for this purpose, and passed resolutions calling a secession convention- 
passed in the Senate on the 9th of November and in the House on the 12th. 



SECESSION —LETTER TO RANDALL HUNT. I99 

strength, a very present help in tune of trouble ; therefore we 
will not fear though the earth be removed and though the moun- 
tains be carried into the sea ; the Lord of hosts with us, the God 
of Jacob is our refuge,' On the 18th the convention adjourned 
to Charleston, and on the 20th passed the memorable ordinance 
of secession, concluding with the declaration that the " Union 
now subsisting between South Carolina and other States under 
the name of The United States of America is hereby dissolved." 
Other of the South Atlantic States, though not so rapid in action 
as South Carolina, betrayed unmistakably the temper of their 
people to imitate her example. They were resolved upon dis- 
union ; peaceably if possible, but by war if, to effect it, war should 
become necessary. 

Mr. Chase was a careful and anxious observer of the progress 
of events, but at no time faltered in his conviction that the real 
interests of the country demanded that no further extension of 
slavery should be allowed, nor in his resolution to prevent, so 
far as rested with him, a further extension of the slave-system ; 
though willing, at the same time, to give to the South just as- 
surance and guarantees that no invasions of existing rights were 
meditated or intended. 



Mr. Chase to Mr. Bandall "Hunt^ a Citizen of New Orleans. 

"Columbus, November 30, 1860. 

" . . . . Would to Heaven that it were in my power to compose the 
strife which now disturbs the peace of our country ! Certainly, there is in 
my heart no feeling but good- will to every part of it. 

*' But what can be done ? I mean what can be done by a private citi- 
zen ? If the executive power of the nation were in my hands, I should 
know what to do. I would maintain the Union, support the Constitution, 
and enforce the laws. 

" And here let me call your attention to an omission in the published 
report of my Covington speech. After stating, as my chief objection to 
the Bell-Everett platform, that it proposed nothing which all parties did 
not agree to, and therefore was inadequate to the demands of the time, I 
went on to say that what seemed to me the distinguishing characteristic 
of the party supporting Mr. Bell, and also of that party supporting Mr. 
Douglas, in the South, was a true devotion to the Union and a resolute 
determination to sustain it, against the designs of disunion entertained by 
a portion — though I hoped not a very large portion — of the supporters of 
Mr. Breckenridge : so that in the South, whatever might be the case in the 



200 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

North, their platform did. propose a practical issue on a practical question, 
and that on that issue all my sympathies were with them. 

" I abhor the very idea of a dissolution of the Union. If I were Presi- 
dent, I would indeed exhaust every expedient of forbearance consistent 
with safety. But at all hazards and against all opposition the laws of the 
Union should be enforced, through the judiciary if practicable, but, against 
rebellion, by all necessary means. The question of slavery should not be 
permitted to influence my action one way or another. 

" But while I would thus act when circumstances should demand action, 
I would not shut my eyes to the fact, manifest to everybody, that it is from 
the slavery question that our chief dangers arise, and I would direct what- 
ever influence I might possess to an adjustment of it — not by any new 
compromise, for new compromises can only breed new dangers — but by 
honest provision for the honest fulfillment of all constitutional obligations 
connected with it. 

" Nothing to me seems clearer than that, under the Constitution, slavery 
is a State institution, and that much embarrassment would have been 
avoided had this principle never been lost sight of. It would have assured 
peace to the States in which slavery exists by uniting almost all men of all 
bpiaions against all aggression upon them. Let this principle be now, 
once more, frankly recognized and it will redress much of our trouble. 
The slave States can lose nothing, for few of their statesmen expect any 
further extension of slavery. Disunion, certainly, is not extension. Dis- 
union rather is abolition, and abolition civil and perhaps servile war, 
which God forbid ! It is precisely because they anticipate abolition that 
many earnest abolitionists desire disunion. Why, then, may not all — 
slave States and free States alike — frankly accept the actual condition of 
non-extension; determiaed, in the Union, by the irreversible judgment of 
the people ; determined, out of the Union, by inevitable destiny ? Such 
acceptance would be a long step toward peace. 

" Besides the question of extension there seems to me to be but one 
other which need occasion any anxiety. I refer of course to the extradi- 
tion of escaping slaves. I have no doubt that the Constitution stipulates 
for such extradition ; but I cannot help seeing that natural sentiment and 
conscientious conviction make the execution of this stipulation everywhere 
diSicult and in the free States wellnigh impracticable; and I would not 
delude anybody with the notion of what some people call ' a fair law.' 
For all such propositions mean evasion, and would evade nothing. It is 
high time to have done with evasions. Let us recognize facts as they are, 
frankly and boldly, and not try to creep away from them. In this spirit I 
would recognize the fact of constitutional obligation and the fact that it 
cannot be fulfilled with any thing like completeness, and then I would see 
what could be done instead of literal fulfillment. It seems to me that 
compensation for the fugitive would be better than any thing else that is 
practicable. It would.be better for the slave States, because the return of 



VISIT TO MR. LIIs^COLN AT SPRINGFIELD. 201 

a fugitive is not in itself a desirable thing either for the individual from 
whom or for the State from which he flees ; it would be better for the free 
States, because it would involve nothing repugnant to the sentiments and 
convictions of the people ; it would be better — infinitely better for all — 
than disunion. 

"With these questions thus adjusted, peace would return, and harmony 
and prosperity. Is there any better way ? I see none. It is useless to at- 
tempt impossibilities. It is useless to try to reverse public opinion. It is 
useless to contend with the general course and progress of civilization. It 
is useful only to endeavor so to modify and direct that course as to make 
the current, capable of becoming a destructive flood, a beneficent and fer- 
tilizing stream. 

*' You have my thoughts honestly though hastily expressed. 

" Yours most cordially, 

" S. P. Chase." 

IS'ot long after tlie election, amid tlie struggles of contending 
factions in the Republican party, and of the distress and agita- 
tion prevailing everywhere both Korth and South, Mr. Lincoln 
invited Mr. Chase to a conference at Springfield. Mr. Chase 
went without delay. He arrived in that city on the evening of 
the 3d of January, 1861 ; and found there politicians of all 
grades and from all quarters urging the claims, or opposing the 
claims, of contending aspirants for ofiice ; Cameron, of Pennsyl- 
vania, being, for the time, the particular subject of contention 
among partisans and of embarrassment to Mr. Lincoln. 

Immediately upon being informed of his arrival, Mr. Lin- 
coln — without consulting what would perhaps have been a strict 
formality — called upon Mr. Chase at his hotel. The meeting 
between the two gentle, nen was friendly and cordial ; Mr. Lin- 
coln recalling, at the ver^ beginning of their interview, the fact 
that in 1858 Mr. Chase, alni st alone of the leaders of the Repub- 
lican party outside of Illinois, had given him active help by com- 
ing into the State and aiding him in his celebrated canvass 
against Mr. Douglas. " I have done with you," said Mr. Lin- 
coln, " what I would not perhaps have ventured to do with any 
other man in the country — sent for you to ask you whether you 
will accept the appointment of Secretary of the Treasury, with- 
out, however, being exactly prepared to offer it to you." To 
this Mr. Chase replied that such a question placed him in an un- 
pleasant position ; that he wanted no appointment, and certainly 



203 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

could not easily reconcile himself to tlie acceptance of a subor- 
dinate one. Mr. Lincoln said that he had felt bound to offer 
the position of Secretary of State ' to Mr. Seward as the gener- 
ally-recognized leader of the Kepublican party, intending, if 
Mr. Seward had declined, to offer it without qualification to 
Mr. Chase. He added that he had not wished Mr. Seward to 
decline ; but had sincerely desired him to accept, and was glad 
he had accepted. Mr. Chase concm-red with Mr. Lincoln con- 
cerning the offer to Mr. Seward, and said that, though he was 
unprepared to declare his willingness to accept the Treasury De- 
partment if tendered him, the selection of Mr. Seward to the 
Department of State would . remove his objections to a subor- 
dinate place if he should conclude to accept at all. From this 
subject, the conversation took a wide range, including men and 
policies. Mr. Lincoln was firm against any deviation from the 
declarations of the Chicago Convention, but said that if the 
country could guard effectually against any further acquisition 
of territory, the restoration and extension of the Missouri line 

* Mr. Chase to Mr. Seward. 

"Columbus, January 11, 1861. 

" My dear Sir : You are to be Secretary of State. The post is yours by right, 
and you will have the post. My best -wishes go with you. Permit me a few words 
about matters in which we have a deep common interest, 

" The telegraph reports that you are to speak on Saturday. Let me urge you to 
give countenance to no scheme of compromise. Mr. Lincoln will be inaugurated in 
a few days. Then the Republicans will be charged with the responsibiUty of ad- 
ministration. Then, too, they will control one branch of the Government. 

" To me it seems all-important that no compromise be now made, and no conces- 
sion involving any surrender of principles ; but that the people of the slave States, 
and of all the States, be plainly told that the Republicans have no proposition to 
make at present ; that when they have the power they will be ready to offer an 
adjustment, fair and beneficial to all sections of the country — that in the mean time 
all they ask of those who now have the power is, to uphold the Constitution, main- 
tain the Union, and enforce the laws. I fully believe that such an adjustment can 
be offered, and that, when offered by an Administration having the power and the 
will to make itself respected, and the laws something more than meaningless words 
on the statute-books, it wiU be accepted, and that then we shall have stable peace 
and the new era. 

" Pardon my suggestions. They are prompted only by zeal for the cause and 

good-will to its defenders. 

" Cordially yours, 

"S. P. Chase. 
"Hon. William H. Seward." 



THE TREASURY— VIRGINIA PEACE RESOLUTIONS. 203 

miglit be agreed to for tlie sake of peace. Mr. Chase dissented, 
saying tliat " the American people knew no sucli god as Ter- 
minus." 

During the two days Mr. Chase remained in Springfield, 
several interviews took place between Mr. Lincoln and himself, 
in one of which Mr. Lincoln said that he had been informed by 
Mr. Cameron that the appointment of Mr. Chase to the Treas- 
ury would be entirely acceptable to Pennsylvania ; but he said, 
at the same time, that the anti-Cameron men were urging the 
appointment to the Treasury Department of William S. Dayton, 
of ]^ew Jersey. 

Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Chase separated with a no more dis- 
tinct understanding than this — that Mr. Chase was at hberty to 
consider the offer under the advice of friends ; with a disposition 
to accept if they should think the public interest required it, 
though on his own part feeling and believing at the same time 
that he could be more useful in the Senate. 

On the 19th of January — a few days subsequent to Mr. 
Chase's r^urn from Springfield — the Legislature of Virginia 
passed a series of resolutions, in which that body declared, " that 
unless the unhappy controversy which now divides the States of 
the Confederacy shall be satisfactorily adjusted, a permanent 
dissolution of the Union is inevitable ; " and representing " the 
wishes of the people of the Commonwealth of "Virginia," alleged 
their desire to employ every reasonable means to avert so fear- 
ful a calamity. Then declaring its determination " to make a 
final effort to restore the Union and the Constitution in the 
spirit in which they were established by the fathers of the 
republic," the Legislature resolved, " that on behalf of the Com- 
monwealth of Yirginia, an invitation is hereby extended to all 
such States, whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, as are 
willing to unite with Yirginia in an earnest effort to adjust the 
present unhappy controversies, in the spirit in which the Con- 
stitution was originally formed, and consistently with its prin- 
ci]3les, so as to afford to the people of the slaveholding States 
adequate guarantees for the security of their rights, to appoint 
commissioners to meet on the 4th of February next, in the city 
of Washington, similar commissioners appointed by Vii'ginia, 
to consider and if practicable agree upon some suitable adjust- 



204 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ment." Five persons were appointed to attend on the part of 
Virginia — Jolin Tyler, William C. Rives, John W. Brocken- 
brough, George W. Summers, and James A. Seddon. 

Governor Dennison, of Ohio, responded to the invitation 
of Virginia by appointing as delegates to this "Peace Con- 
vention" Mr. Chase, Thomas Ewing, WilKam S. Groesbeck, 
John 0. Wright, who, dying at an early period of its delibera- 
tions, was succeeded by Christopher P. Wolcott ; Reuben Hitch- 
cock, and Franklin T. Backus. Seven slave States and fourteen 
of the free States sent representatives. 

Mr. Chase did not much believe in this conference as a 
means of reconciliation, but rather that it was intended to secure 
new concessions to slavery. He was quite willing there, as else- 
where, to give to the slave States the strongest assurances that 
no aggressions upon their rights or interests were meditated, 
but he was not willing to disguise from them that a further 
extension of slavery was, so far as he could exercise influence, 
impossible. 

Upon the meeting of the Conference, on the 4th of February, 
1861, it was soon found that the slave-State delegates would 
expect inadmissible concessions. The commissioners whose 
views agreed with those of Mr. Chase finally determined to pro- 
pose to refer all matters of difference to a IS^ational Convention 
of all the States, and meantime to arrest the progress of dis- 
union, by giving definite assurances that no invasion of the rights 
of States over the subject of slavery, or any other subject, was 
intended or would be attempted. In the very earnest speech he 
made to the convention (February 26th) in support of this prop- 
osition, he suggested — while admitting that his suggestion was 
not exactly to the point of the discussion — as a mode of avoid- 
ing the disorders which grew out of the fugitive slave law, in- 
stead of the rendition of fugitives, to make compensation for 
them out of the national Treasury. He warned the South, with 
great solemnity, of the consequences of secession. " If forced 
to the last extremity," he said, " the people of the free States 
will meet the issue as best they may ; but be assured they will 
meet it with no discordant councils. Mr. Lincoln will be in- 
augurated on the 4th of March. He will take an oath to pro- 
tect and defend the Constitution of the United States — of aU 



THE PEACE CONFERENCE. 205 

tlie United States. Tliat oatli will bind liim to take care tliat 
the laws be faithfully exBcuted tliroughout the United States. 
Will secession absolve him from that oath ? Will it diminish, 
by one jot or tittle, its awful obligation ? Will attempted revo- 
lution do more than secession ? And if not — and the oath and 
obligation remain — and the President does his duty and imder- 
takes to enforce the laws, and secession or revolution resists, 
what then ? War ! Civil war ! — Let us not rush headlong into 
that unfathomable gulf. Let us not tempt this unutterable woe. 
We offer you a plain and honorable mode of adjusting all diffi- 
culties. It is a mode which, we believe, will receive the sanc- 
tion of the people. We pledge ourselves here that we will do 
all in our power to obtain their sanction for it. Is it too much 
to ask you, gentlemen of the South, to meet us on this honor- 
able and practicable ground ? Will you not at least concede this 
to the country ? " 

Instead of adopting the proposal for a National Convention, 
a proposed amendment to the Constitution was forced through 
the Conference in violation of its rules, and submitted to Con- 
gress. This proposed amendment (to be the thii-teenth) ' was 

* The first section of this amendment was as follows : " In all the present terri- 
tory of the United States north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes 
of north latitude, involuntary servitude except in punishment of crime, is prohibited. 
In all the present territory south of that line the status of persons held to involun-: 
tary service or labor as it now exists shall not be changed ; nor shall any law be 
passed by Congress or the territorial Legislature to hinder or prevent the taking of 
such persons from any of the States of this Union to said territory, nor to impair the 
rights arising from said relation ; but the same shall be subject to judicial cognizance 
in the Federal courts according to the course of the common law. When any Terri- 
tory north or south of said line, within such boundary as Congress may prescribe, 
shall contain a population equal to that required for a member of Congress, it shall, 
if its form of government be repubhcan, be admitted into the Union on an equal 
footing with the original States, with or without involuntary servitude as the consti- 
tution of such State may provide." The second, third and seventh sections ran 
thus : The second — " No territory shall be acquired by the United States except by 
discovery, and for naval and commercial stations, depots, and transit routes, without 
the concurrence of a majority of all the Senators from States which allow involun- 
tary servitude and a majority of all the Senators from States which prohibit that 
relation ; nor shaU territory be acquired by treaty unless by the votes of a majority 
of the Senators from each class of States hereinbefore mentioned, be cast as a part 
of the two-thirds majority necessary to the ratification of such treaty." The third — 
" Neither the Constitution nor any amendment thereof shall be construed to give 
Congress power to regulate, abolish or control within any State, the relation estab- 



306 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

comprised in seven sections, and made large concessions to sla- 
very. Mr. Chase and Mr. "Wolcott, of the Ohio representatives, 
alone voted against it. "When it was submitted to Congress, 
however, it met but little favor ; and the labors of .the conven- 
tion ended in naught. 

Congress, however, engaged itself busily in various schemes 
of intended pacification ; every one of them involving more or 
less of abandonment of the ground taken by the Republican 
party in relation to slavery. Mr. Chase steadily opposed them 
all, so far as he was consulted and his influence could be made 
effective. Threats were openly made that unless such abandon- 
ment was conceded, Mr. Lincoln's inauguration would not be 
permitted. To these menaces Mr. Chase replied in words which 
were repeated through the North — " Inauguration first, adjust- 

lished or recognized by the laws thereof touching persons held to labor or involun- 
tary service therein, nor to interfere with or abolish involuntary service in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia without the consent of Maryland and without the consent of the 
owners, or making the owners who do not consent just compensation ; nor the power 
to interfere with or prohibit representatives and others from bringing with them to 
the District of Columbia, retaining and taking away persons so held to service or 
labor ; nor the power to interfere with or abolish involuntary service in places under 
the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States within those States and Territories 
where the same is established or recognized ; nor the power to prohibit the removal 
or transportation of persons held to labor or involuntary service in any State or Ter- 
ritory of the United States to any other State or Territory thereof where it is estab- 
lished or recognized by law or usage ; and the right during transportation by sea or 
river, of touching at ports, shores and landings, and of landing in case of distress, 
shall exist ; but not the right of transit in or through any State or Territory, or of 
sale or traffic against the laws thereof. Nor shall Congress have power to authorize 
any higher rate of taxation on persons held to labor or service than on land. The 
bringing into the District of Columbia of persons held to labor or service for sale, or 
placing them in depots to be afterward transferred to other places for sale as mer- 
chandise, is prohibited." The seventh — " Congresss shall provide by law that the 
United States shall pay to the owner the fuU value of his fugitive from labor, in all 
cases where the marshal or other officer whose duty it was to arrest such fugitive 
was prevented from so doing by violence or intimidation from mobs or riotous as- 
semblages, or when, after arrest, such fugitive was rescued by hke violence or in- 
timidation, and the owner thereby deprived of the same ; and the acceptance of such 
payment shall preclude the owner from further claim to such fugitive. Congress 
shall provide by law for securing to the citizens of such State the privileges and im- 
munities of citizens in the several States." These several resolutions formed the 
basis of the restoration of the Union and the Constitution in the spirit of the fathers 
* of the republic, as that spirit was interpreted by a majority of the members of the 
" Peace Conference ! " 



BECOMES SECRETAKY OF THE TREASURY. 207 

ment afterward ; " " words," observes Mr. Trowbridge, " which 
were not without effect upon the public mind." 

The inauguration, however, took place peacefully and in the 
presence of vast multitudes of people — many thousands from 
the Korth, and very few from the South, going to the capital 
to witness it. Mr. Chase took his seat in the Senate on the 
same day, March 4th. 

Two days afterward, Mr. Lincoln, without consulting Mr. 
Chase, nominated him to be Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. 
Chase happened to be absent from the Senate when the nomina- 
tion was received ; on his return, a few minutes later, he was 
informed of what had taken place, and that the nomination had 
been at once unanimously confirmed. " I went immediately to 
the President," writes Mr. Chase to Mr. Trowbridge, " and 
expressed my disinclination to accept. After some conversation, 
in the course of which he referred to the embarrassment my 
declination would occasion him, I said I would give the matter 
further consideration and advise him next day of my decision. 
Some rumor of my hesitation got abroad, and I was immedi- 
ately pressed by the most urgent remonstrances not to decline. 
I finally yielded to this, and surrendered a position every way 
more desirable to me, to take charge of the finances of the coun- 
try under circumstances most unpropitious and forbidding." 

This decision to accept was made the evening of the nomi- 
nation, and before -sleeping Mr. Chase forwarded the resignation 
, of his seat in the Senate to the Governor of Ohio, in the sub- 
joined letter : 

" "Washington, March 6, 1861. 

" Sir : Will you have the goodness to make known to the General As- 
sembly my resignation of the office of Senator of the United States from 
the State of Ohio, of which I shall immediately notify the President of the 
Senate ? 

" It would be far more consonant with my wishes to remain at the 
post to which the people of Ohio, through the General Assembly, saw fit 
to call me. Deeply indebted to their generosity for repeated marks of con- 
fidence, and for the profoundly indulgent consideration with which my 
endeavors to promote their interests have ever been regarded by them, it 
is impossible for me to prefer any other service to theirs. 

"But the President has thou<?ht fit to call me to another sphere of 
duty, more laborious, more arduous, and fuller far of perplexing responsi- 
bilities. I sought to avoid it, and would now gladly decline it, if I might. 



208 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

I find it impossible to do so, however, without seeming to shrink from 
cares and labors for the common good, which cannot be honorably 
Bhunned. I shall accept, therefore, these new duties, greatly distrusting 
my own abilities, but humbly invoking divine aid and guidance. 

" I shall hope that my decision will meet the approval of the General 
Assembly and the people of Ohio ; and shall greatly rejoice if, by the con- 
stant application of my best powers in the service of the whole country, I 
shall succeed in contributing any thing to that common welfare in which 
Ohio has an interest hardly inferior to that of any other of the States of 
the Union. 

" I have the honor to be, 

" With very great respect, 

" Yours truly, 

"S. P. Chase." 
" To his Excellency William Denison, Governor of Ohio," 



CHAPTEE XXIY. 

ENTEE8 FPON HIS DUTIES AS SECEETAKY OF THE TKEASUKT DE- 
PRESSED STATE OF THE FINANCES AT THAT TIME HIS EARLY 

FINANCIAL MEASUEES BEGINNING OF THE EEBELLION EXTEA 

SESSION OF C0NGEES8, JULY, 1861. 

THE critical condition of public affairs during tiie closing 
months of Mr. Buchanan's Administration, and the general 
apprehension that they must early culminate in civil war, had 
materially damaged the public credit some time before Mr. Lin- 
coln's inauguration. The comparatively small necessities of the 
Government during the last session of the Thirty-sixth Congress 
were met with serious difficulty, and at rates and under circum- 
stances which showed how extensive the loss of confidence was. 
On the lYth of December, 1860, Congress authorized an 
issue of ten millions of one-year Treasury notes, to be disposed 
of at the best attainable rates.* Five millions of these were ad- 
vertised to be awarded on the 28th of the same month. But a 
smaU aggregate sum was offered, and the rates varied from 
twelve to thirty-six per cent. The offers at twelve were ac- 
cepted ; they made a total, however, of only half a million dol- 
lars. An association of bankers — on condition that the proceeds 
be applied to the payment of interest on the then existing public 
debt — subsequently took one and a half million at twelve, and 
afterward the remainder of the five millions advertised at the 
same figure. In January, 1861, Secretary Dix disposed of the 

' As early as June, 1860 — four months before Mr. Lincoln's election — Secretary 
Cobb was borrowing money at twelve per cent, per annum. 

14 



210 



LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 



otlier five of the ten millions authorized, at an average of about 
eleven per cent. 

On the 8th of February Congress authorized a loan of twenty- 
five millions of United States stocks, payable in not less than 
ten nor more than twenty years, to bear six per cent, interest. 
Secretary Dix advertised eight millions of these to be awarded 
on the 22d of the same month. Pending the advertisement, on 
the 11th of February, the Secretary addressed a letter to the 
chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, apprising the 
committee that the liabilities of the Government due and to fall 
due before the 4th of March were about ten millions of dol- 
lars ; that the revenues of the department would be entirely in- 
sufficient to meet them, and that not less than eight millions 
would have to be borrowed. He said that in the existing con- 
dition of the country it would be impossible to obtain this sum 
except at rates seriously damaging to the public credit, without 
some pledge in addition to that of the General Government. 
Some of the States had offered the pledge of their faith to the 
extent of the public moneys deposited with them under the act 
of the 23d June, 1836 ; ' and the Secretary invited attention to 
these proposals with a manifest hope that Congress would act 
favorably upon them ; but no action was had. The bids were 
opened on the 22d of February, as advertised ; the aggregate of 
offers was about fourteen and a half millions, and ranged from 
75 to 96.10. Eight millions were accepted at rates not less 
than 90. 



I The 13th section of the act of 23d June, 1836 (5 Stat, at Large, 53), author- 
ized the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit with such States as should legahze 
their acceptance, in proportion to their congressional representation, such excess of 
the public moneys over five millions of dollars as should be in the United States 
Treasury on the 1st of January, 1837 ; to be returned to the Government in the 
manner prescribed by the act. The following table shows the distribution made, no 
portion of which has been returned to the national Treasury : 



Maine $955.S33 25 

New Hampshire 669.086 79 

Massachusetts 1,333,173 53 

Vermont 669,036 79 

Connecticut 764,670 60 

Rhode Island 332.335 30 

New York 4.014,520 71 

New Jersey 764.670 60 

Pennsylvania 2,367,514 73 

Delaware 236,751 49 

Maryland 955,833 25 

Virginia 2,198,427 99 

North Carolina J ,433,757 39 



South Carolina $1,051,422 09 

Geor^a 1,051.422 09 

Alabama 669,036 79 

Louisiana 477,919 14 

Mississippi 332,335 30 

Tennessee 1,433,757 89 

Kentucky 1,433,757 39 

Ohio 2,007,260 34 



Missouri. 
Indiana.. . 

Illinois 

Michiiran. 
Arkansas . 



832,335 30 
860.254 44 
477,919 14 
236,751 49 
236,751 49 



THE POLITICAL SITUATION. 211 

Tliis brief sketcli will illustrate the depressed state of tlie 
public finances during tlie three months ending about the 4th 
of March, 1861. Congress during the same period had been 
stonny and factious. The Southern Senators and Representa- 
tives effectually controlled the expressions and action of the ven- 
erable and timid President. Seven of the slaveholding States, 
professing a constitutional right to do so, and surrounding their 
acts with the most solemn official forms, had publicly declared 
their secession from the Federal Union, and were in the attitude 
of practical war upon the national authority. They had united 
in the organization of a confederated government, and had as- 
sumed and were exercising the functions of a separate and inde- 
pendent nation. To render the situation still more painfully 
embarrassing, a powerful body of the Northern people protested 
earnestly, and even passionately, against the existence of any 
constitutional right in the General Government to coerce by arms 
States which had foraially withdrawn from the Union. And 
there were not wanting members of the great party which had 
elected Mr. Lincoln who declared peaceable secession preferable 
to the calamities and contingencies of civil war. But war was 
inevitable, as the more sagacious statesmen clearly foresaw. 

]VIr. Chase, unawed by the portentous aspect of the political 
elements, immediately entered upon the organization of his 
financial plans. Plutarch writes of Pericles that he was seen in 
public only in going to and coming from the senate-house. It 
niay truly be said of Mr. Chase that he was seen only in going 
to and coming from the place of his official labors. His abilities 
and energy soon manifested themselves to the people. He rees- 
tablished the public credit upon sohd fomidations. He created 
a currency which answered all the vast requirements of the war, 
and was, beyond all precedent in the histoiy of the country, 
popular among the people, and this too before the suspension of 
cash payments. It is important to be remembered that that cur- 
rency was not at first a legal tender. He projected a system of 
national banks, designed ultimately to supersede all similar insti- 
tutions existing imder State laws. The circulating notes of these 
banks, secured both by private capital and by ample deposits of 
Government bonds with the Treasm'er of the United States, 
were intended to provide, in an emphatic sense, a sound and 



/ 
I 



212 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

uniform currencj, the benefits of wliich — embracing the whole 
country and extending into the far future — were to prevent the 
evils inseparable from disordered issues. Under the general 
operation of liis measures, the loans of the Government were ab- 
sorbed with great rapidity, not only by domestic purchasers but 
by foreign investors. And more important than any other con- 
sideration, the Administration was enabled to meet the prodi- 
gious expenditures entailed by the war promptly, sm-ely, regu- 
larly. 

Mr. Chase did not deceive himseK nor did he deceive the 
people as to the time basis of the extensive financial operations 
of the Government. He felt the force and necessity of a severe 
and comprehensive system of Federal taxation, and urged upon 
the early and earnest attention of Congress the adoption of an 
adequate scheme of revenue from this source as indispensable to 
a sound administration of the Treasury. 

On assuming office as Secretary of the Treasury, March 7, 
1861, Mr. Chase found that he had power to negotiate loans 
under the acts of 22d June, 1860, and 8th February and 2d 
March, 1861. Under the first, which authorized a loan of twenty- 
one millions of United States stocks at six per cent.. Secretary 
Cobb had negotiated $7,022,000, leaving $13,978,000 for future 
negotiation ; under the second, authorizing twenty-five millions 
six per cent.' stock, Secretary Dix had disposed of $8,006,000, 
leaving $16,991,000 ; and under the third, authorizing a loan of 
ten millions of six per cent, stock (it was also a tariff act), no 
negotiation had been made or attempted. This last act gave 
power to the Secretary to exchange Treasuiy notes at par for coin 
to the amount undisposed of under the act of February 8th. 
These unsold loans made a total of $10,964,000. 

On the 22d of March proposals were advertised for eight 
millions of the loan of the 8th of February, to be awarded on 
the 2d of April following. Mr. Chase, entirely assured that this 
stock, payable in coin and bearing a coin interest of six per 
centum, was intrinsically worth par, resolved that there should 
be as little sacrifice in selling them as great and pressing public 
necessities would permit. The offers were more than twenty- 
seven millions ; the lowest bid being for $5,000 at 85, and the 
highest was for $1,000 at par. Eight millions were accepted at 




« 
-J! 

O 

& 

en 

« 

O 

I—* 

o 

00 



HIS EARLY FINANCIAL OPERATIONS. 213 

91 and upward— realizing to the Treasury $7,814,809.80. All 
offers under 94 were declined ; the firmness of the Secretary in 
declining them, while it disappointed many, served to inspire gen- 
eral confidence ; and if his action did not raise, it certainly pre- 
served from a further decline, the already miserably depressed 
condition of the public credit. It showed clearly enough that 
the finances were to be controlled more with reference to the in- 
trinsic value of the Government securities than to the wishes or 
interests of brokers and speculators. 

On the 4th of April he awarded at par (and $360,000 at a 
slight premium) $4,901,000 six per cent, two-years' Treasuiy 
notes receivable for public dues, or at the holder's option, con- 
vertible into six per cent. United States stocks. 

The means derived from these negotiations were, however, 
insufficient to supply even immediate wants. On the 21st of 
May (after hostilities were begun), under a pubhc notice of 
the 11th of that instant, he awarded $7,310,000 of the 8th 
of February loan at rates varying from 85 to 93 per cent., and 
$1,689,000 in Treasury notes at par, realizing for the $8,994,000 
offered the sum of $7,922,553.45 to the Treasury. He also 
issued Treasury notes to offerers at par and to public creditors 
up to July 4th to the amount of $2,584,550. 

Viewing these transactions in connection with the turbulent 
condition of the country, they cannot be regarded as any thing 
less than remarkably successful. He was selling Government 
stocks at an average discount of about six per cent., which con- 
trasts strongly with the rates at which British debt was con- 
tracted during the French wars. 

The great rebellion was inaugurated on the 12th of April by 
the attack on Sumter. On the 13th the fort was surrendered ; 
on the 14th the President issued his call for seventy-five thousand 
troops. 

These events were followed by a general rally to arms, both 
Korth and South, for that tremendous struggle the end whereof 
human foresight could not predict. But doubt and suspense 
were dispelled : the emblems of war appeared on every side ; the 
enemies of coercion were hushed by the general voice of the 
people ; and herein at least there was an improvement in the 
public condition. But the finances suffered severely from these 



214 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

occurrences. They were sustained by the courage and genius of 
the Secretary and the confidence these qualities inspired. Many 
prominent and influential capitalists came forward in this im- 
portant conjuncture and by prompt assistance rendered endming 
services to the Federal cause ; much of this action being due to 
a personal confidence in the character and abilities of the Secre- 
tary. 

Congress, in obedience to the summons of the President, as- 
sembled at the capital on the 4th of July. Dominated by the 
unanimous attitude of the people, that body was prompt and en- 
ergetic in its action. Men and means were voted in niunbers 
and amount then thought prodigal and extravagant. Other 
views were learned, however, from the lessons of experience. 

It is from this time forward that the distinctive policy of Mr. 
Chase is to be considered. Hitherto he had acted under authority 
conferred by existing laws ; and with such large measure of suc- 
cess as to create a general confidence in the wisdom and effective- 
ness of his administration. 

Before entering, however, upon a further history * of those gi- 
gantic financial operations which excited astonishment in the Old 
World and boastfulness in the New, it will be proper to exhibit 
the transactions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1861. The 
public debt at its beginning, July 1, 1860, was $64,769,703.08. 
The balance in the Treasury at that date was $3,629,206. Yl ; the 
total receipts for the year — from all sources — were $86,972,- 
893.81. Of this aggregate sum $39,593,819.81 were on account 
of customs duties ($35,417,102.11 of which were in coin and 
$4,176,717.70 in Treasury notes); $824,687.80 were derived 
from sales of public lands ; $861,096.54 from miscellaneous 
sources, and $42,064,082.95 were from loans. The expendi- 
tures for the same period were $84,577,258.60 ; of which 
$23,188,203.19 were on account of the civil hst, foreign inter- 
course, and miscellaneous objects ; $3,760,022.72 were expended 
by the Interior Department; $22,981,150.44 by the War De- 
partment, over ten millions ($10,108,784.59) in the last three 
months of the year ; $12,428,532.09 were expended by the Navy 

' I beg to remind the reader, however, that it is not my purpose to enter upon 
all the details of Mr. Chase's administration, but rather to describe those principal 
transactions which are of penAanent interest and importance. 



TREASURY TRANSACTIONS FOR 1861. 315 

Department ; for redemption oi Treasmy notes and Texas cred- 
itors $18,219,207.27, the last week of the year being estimated ; 
and for payment of interest on the pubHc debt (which was stated 
July 1, 1861, to be $90,867,828.68), the last week in the fiscal 
year being also estimated, $4,000,142.89 ; leaving a balance in 
the Treasury of $2,355,635.21. The public debt of the United 
States on the 7th of March, 1861, at which date Mr. Chase as- 
sumed control of the department, was officially stated at 
$76,455,299.28 ; the increase in its amount up to the end of the 
fiscal year (a period of nearly four months) being $14,412,529.40. 



CHAPTEE XXY. 

ESTIMATES FOR FISCAL TEAR 1862 — PROPOSES INCREASED DUTIES 
ON TEAS, COFFEES, AND SUGARS, A DIRECT TAX OF TWENTY 
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, AND A NATIONAL LOAN OF ONE HUN- 
DRED MILLIONS THE BASIS OF HIS ESTIMATES ACTION OF 

CONGRESS UPON HIS RECOMMENDATIONS ISSUE OF THE "DE- 
MAND notes" CONFERENCES WITH THE COMMITTEE OF THE 

ASSOCIATED BANKS OF NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, AND BOSTON 
BORROWS ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. 

MK. CHASE estimated the whole sum required for the 
fiscal year to end June 30, 1862, at $318,519,581.87: 
that is to say, for the war service, $185,296,397.19 ; for the 
naval service, $30,609,520.29 ; for the civil list, foreign inter- 
course, and miscellaneous objects, $831,406.90 ; for the Interior 
Department, $431,525.77 ; total, $217,168,850.15 ; to pay Treas- 
ury notes due and to become due, $12,639,861.64 ; to meet for- 
mer appropriations, $79,710,870.08 ; and to pay interest on pro- 
posed new debt, $9,000,000. 

Three hundred and twenty millions being required, he pro- 
posed to raise eighty millions by taxes and two hundred and 
forty millions by loans. It would hardly be disputed, he ob- 
served, that in every sound system of finance adequate provision 
by taxation for the prompt discharge of all ordinary demands, 
for the punctual payment of interest on loans, and for the crea- 
tion of a gradually increasing fund for the redemption of the 
principal, is indispensable. Public credit can only be created by 
public faith, and public faith can only be maintained by an eco- 
nomical, energetic and prudent administration of public affairs, 



HIS PROPOSED FINANCIAL MEASURES. 217 

and by the prompt and punctual fulfillment of every public obli- 
gation. 

Except on occasions of special exigency, no resort bad been 
bad to direct taxes or to internal duties on excises. Indirect 
taxation bad been tbe general preference of tbe people, and the 
Secretary proposed no departure from tbe policy they bad sanc- 
tioned. 

But tbe existing tariff, framed witb reference to a veiy dif- 
ferent condition of affairs, was clearly inadequate to produce tbe 
necessaiy revenue for tbe ordinary expenses. Tbe receipts for 
tbe last fiscal quarter bad been but five millions and a balf 
($5,52Y,246.33), tbougb be anticipated during tbe next year a 
very considerable improvement. Tbe sources of revenue most 
promptly available were to be found in articles eitber free of 
duty or very ligbtly taxed. Tea and coffee were wbolly exempt, 
and tbe duty on sugar was ligbt. By a duty of two and a balf 
cents on bro^vn, tbree cents on clayed, four cents on loaf and 
otber refined sugars ; two and one balf cents per pound on syrup 
of sugar-cane ; six cents per pound on candy ; six cents a gallon 
on molasses, and four cents on sour molasses ; five cents a pound 
on coffee ; fifteen cents on black and twenty cents a pound on 
green teas — ^would produce an additional revenue of twenty mill- 
ions of dollars ; and be was sure tbe intelligent patriotism of 
tbe people would cbeerfuUy sustain tbese necessary cbarges. 
Proposed duties on otber articles tben free, and cbanges upon 
some so beavily taxed as to amount to probibition, would produce 
a fm'tber revenue of seven millions. From tbe existing tariff 
be expected an income of tbirty millions ; from tbe additional 
duties twenty-seven millions, and to tbis were to be added tbree 
millions to be derived from sales of public lands and miscellane- 
ous sources — total sixty millions. 

He proposed to raise twenty millions by direct taxes, or from 
internal duties or excises, or from botb. 

Tbe value of tbe real and personal property of tbe people of 
tbe United States was, according to tbe census of 1860, sixteen 
tbousand millions of dollars ($16,102,924,116). Tbe value of 
tbe real property was 811j272,053,881, and of tbe personal prop- 
erty $4,830,880,235. Tbe proportion in tbe States not involved 
in tbe rebellion was $10,900,758,009, of wbicb $7,630,530,605 



218 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

represented tlie value of tlie real and $3,270,227,40-i the value 
of tlie personal property. A rate of one-eightli of one per cent. 
ad valorem on the whole would produce $20,128,667 ; a rate of 
one-fifth of one per cent, would produce. $21,800,516, and three- 
tenths of one per cent, on real property alone would produce 
$22,891,590 ; either sum being in excess of the amount required. 
/CL. He thought internal duties might be more cheaply collected 
than direct taxes, and with less interference with the finances of 
the States. They might also be made to bear mainly upon arti- 
cles of luxury, and thus diminish the burden imposed by duties 
on imports upon the classes of people least able to bear them. 

But the needed sum might also be collected, in the judgment 
of the Secretary, by moderate charges on stills and distilled 
liquors, on ale and beer, on tobacco, on bank-notes, on spring 
carriages, on silver-ware and jewelry, and on legacies. If all the 
suggested sources of revenue were resorted to, the amount re- 
quired from loans would be proportionally diminished, and the 
basis of the public credit enlarged and strengthened. 

Moreover, he suggested retrenchment in salaries of the em- 
ployes of the Government and the abolition of the franking 
privilege ; and the confiscation of the property of rebels. 

The only authority he had for obtaining loans was found in 
the act of March 2, 1861, authorizing an issue of bonds bearing 
an interest of six per cent., or in default of offers at par the pay- 
ment of Treasury notes, bearing the same interest, at par, to the 
amount of ten millions ; and in the act of June 22, 1860, under 
wliich Treasury notes at six per cent, might be paid to creditors 
at par, to the amount of $11,393,450 ; making an aggregate of 
$21,393,450. The magnitude of the public necessities required 
further measures. 

He submitted the expediency of a National Loan of not 
less than one hundred millions, to be issued in the form of Treas- 
my notes or exchequer bills, bearing interest at seven and three- 
tenths per cent., to be paid half-yearly, and redeemable at the 
pleasure of the United States after three years. 

He suggested interest at the rate of seven and three-tenths 
per cent., because it was equitable to both borrower and lender, 
and peculiarly convenient of calculation ; but he did not propose 
to restrict loans in this form to any precise limit short of the en- 



PROPOSED FINANCIAL MEASURES. 219 

tire sum tliat miglit be required, in addition to sums realized 
from otlier sources, for all tlie pui-poses of tlie year. He pro- 
posed to open subscription-books in tlie office of tlie United 
States Treasurer at Washington, and in the offices of assistant- 
treasurers and depositories of public moneys, and in tlie post- 
offices of sucli cities and towns as might be designated, and to 
appoint private persons to open books. Subscriptions were to 
be received for fifty or any multiple of fifty dollars. He was 
sure such a loan would be responded to by the people promptly 
and liberally. But if it was found inexpedient (note the deli- 
cacy of this expression ! ) to provide the whole amount needed in 
the foregoing mode, he proposed to issue one hundred millions 
of bonds to home and foreign lenders at rates not lower than 
par, payable in thirty years, at a rate of interest not exceeding 
seven per cent., payable in London. 

As an auxiliary measure, and for whatever sums might be 
needed to supply the full amount required for the service of the 
fiscal year, the Secretary recommended provision for the issue of 
Treasury notes of ten, twenty, and twenty-five dollars each, pay- 
able one year after date, to the amount of fifty millions. He 
proposed that these notes should bear interest at the rate of 
three and sixty-five one-hundredths per cent., and be exchange- 
able, at the will of the holder, for Treasury notes or exchequer 
bills, payable after three years, bearing seven and three-tenths 
per cent, interest ; or if found more convenient they might be 
made redeemable on demand in coin without interest. In either 
form, such notes might prove very useful if prudently used in 
anticipation of revenue certain to be received. 

" But the greatest care will be requisite," he added, " to pre- 
vent the degradation of such issues into an irredeemable paper 
currency, than which no more certainly fatal expedient for im- 
poverishing the masses and discrediting the government of any 
country, can well be devised." 

The estimates of the war expenditures submitted in this re- 
port of Mr. Chase were rested upon the belief that about three 
hundred thousand troops of all arms — regulars and volunteers — 
would be brought into the field, and that the war would not be 
long continued. General Scott, the veteran chief who then com- 
manded the armies, believed three hundred thousand men ample 



220 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

for tlie purx^ose of suppressing tlie rebellion, and tliat it could be . 
ended in a year. The number actually at the command of the 
Govei-nment on the 1st of July, 1861, was three himdred and 
ten thousand, but of these eighty thousand were three months' 
men, whose terms of service would shortly expii-e. Mr. Came- 
ron (Secretary of "War) at that particular period suffered embar- 
rassments of a remarkable character ; too many troops were offer- 
ing. He reminded the world of the superior military ardor and 
resources of the republic ; " instead of laboring under the difficulty 
of monarchical governments in the want of men to fill its armies 
(which in other countries has compelled a resort to forced con- 
scription), one of its main difficulties is to keep down the pro- 
portions of the army, and prevent it from swelling beyond the 
actual force required," was a very clumsy and ungrammatic 
statement of a difficulty in the path of Mr. Cameron and the re- 
public which grew less as the war wore painfully on, and finally 
disappeared altogether. With his report Mr. Chase transmitted 
bills * embodying the recommendations it contained. 

To these proposed measures Congress responded promptly : 
The loan act of July lY, 1861, empowered the Secretary to 
borrow two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, or so much of 
that smn as he should deem necessary for the public service. 
Against this bill but five votes were cast in the House — those of 
.Messrs. Burnett, of Kentucky, Norton and Eeid, of Missouri, 
Yallandigham, of Ohio, and Fernando "Wood, of New York. 

It gave the Secretary authority to issue coupon or registered 
bonds or both, or Treasury notes of any denomination not less 
than fifty dollars ; the bonds to be redeemable after twenty 
years from their date and to bear an interest not exceeding seven 
per cent. ; the Treasury notes to be payable after three years, and 
to bear interest at the rate of seven and three-tenths per cent, 
per annum. 

- These bills were : " A bill to authorize a national loan, and for other purposes," 
and " a bill further to provide for the collection of duties on imports, and for other 
purposes." The latter was intended especially to enforce the collection of customs 
duties in the insurrectionary States. Mr. Chase invited Senators Fessendcn and 
Collamer to Washington to consult with them in respect to the measures embodied 
in these oills, and they were approved by them with some very slight modifications, 
as ihey were afterward approved by Congress in the same way. But emphatically 
they were the work of Mr. Chase's o^^^l hand. 



THE ACTION OF CONGRESS. 231 

And to issue, also, in exchange for coin or in payment of 
salaries or other dues of the United States, Treasury notes of a 
less denomination than fifty dollars, bearing no interest, but pay- 
able on demand, and (by the supplemental loan act of August 5, 
1861) receivable for public dues ; or Treasury notes, bearing 
interest at the rate of three and sixty-five one-himdredths per 
cent., payable one year after their date, and exchangeable in 
sums of one hundred dollars or upward for the seven-thirty 
tkree years' Treasury notes. The non-interest bearing notes were 
lunited to fifty millions in amount and to denominations not less 
than ten dollars ; but, August 5th, he was authorized to issue 
notes under this clause so low in sum as five dollars. 

He was authorized to negotiate one hundred millions of the 
loan in Europe, and to pay the interest upon it in Europe. He 
was to fix the rate of exchange at which the principal was to be 
received, and the exchange for payment of principal and interest 
was to be at the same rate. And by the supplemental loan act 
of August 5th, six per cent, bonds were authorized to the amoimt 
of the seven-thirty Treasury notes issued under the act of July 
17th, into which six per cents the seven-thirty Treasury notes 
were to be convertible. 

He was also authorized to issue not exceeding twenty mil- 
lions of the Treasury notes, of any of the denominations named 
in the act, at an interest of six per cent., and payable at any 
time not exceeding twelve months from their date. 

And finally, to appoint agents to receive subscriptions to the 
loan ; and if he thought most expedient, to sell bonds at the best 
tenns he could obtain, not below par. 

So far of the action of Congress authorizing the Secretary 
of the Treasury to borrow money. 

— The definite appropriations made during the extraordinary- 
session amounted to two hundred and sixty-five millions of dol- 
ars ; and there were made indefinite appropriations to a consider- 
able amount. The war service was voted $207,401,397.80; 
the naval sei-vice, $56,385,086.29 ; and for civil and miscellaneous 
pm-poses $1,371,873.90— total, $265,158,357.99. These were in 
addition to former appropriations unpaid and to be satisfied out 
of the funds raised dm-ing the ensuing year. 

A large number of new oSices — military and civil — were 



222 I^I^E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

created and tlie salaries of others made larger ; the pay of the 
privates in the army, volunteer and regular, was increased from 
eleven to thirteen dollars a month; bounties of public lands 
were also added to their pay ; and the President was authorized 
to accept five hundred thousand troops for the suppression of 
the rebellion. 

— An act was passed for the confiscation of the property of 
rebels ; more, however, as a penal measure than for purposes of 
revenue. 

The duties on a large mmiber of articles were increased, 
but notably on sugars, coffees, teas and molasses; on brandy 
and distilled spirits ; on wines ; and on silks. A direct tax of 
twenty millions was apportioned among the States, thus : Maine, 
8420,826; :N'ew Hampshire, $218,406.66; Vermont, $211,068; 
Massachusetts, $824,581.33 ; Rhode Island, $116,963.66 ; Con- 
necticut, $308,214 ; E'ew York, $2,603,918.66 ; Kew Jersey, 
$450,134 ; Pennsylvania, $1,946,Y19.33 ; Delaware, $74,683.53 ; 
Maryland, $436,823.33 ; Virginia, $937,550.66 ; 'North Carolina, 
$576,194.66 ; South Carolina, $363,570.66 ; Georgia, $584,367.- 
33 ; Alabama, $529,313.33 ; Mississippi, $413,084.66 ; Louisiana, 
$385,886.66 ; Ohio, $1,567,089.33 ; Kentucky, $713,695.33 ; Ten- 
nessee, $669,498 ; Indiana, $904,875.33 ; Illinois, $1,146,551.33 ; 
Missouri, $761,127.33 ; Kansas, $71,743.33 ; Arkansas, $261,886 ; 
Michigan, $501,763.33 ; Florida, $77,522.66 ; Texas, $355,106.66 ; 
Iowa, $452,088 ; Wisconsin, $519,688.66; California, $254,538.66 ; 
Minnesota, $108,524 ; Oregon, $35,140.66 ; and to the Territories, 
thus: New Mexico, $62,648; Utah, $26,982; Washington, $7,- 
755.33 ; :N'ebraska, $19,312 ; Nevada, $4,592.66 ; Colorado, $22,- 
905.33; Dakota, $3,241.33; and to the District of Colmnbia, 
$49,437.33. An elaborate system for the collection of this tax 
by Federal officers was provided, but any State electing to do so 
was authorized to collect it through the agency of its own 
officers " in its own way and manner," with a deduction of fif- 
teen per cent. A tax of three per cent, upon income in excess 
of eight hundred dollars was laid by this act ; but upon that 
portion of it derived from securities of the United States one- 
and a half of one per cent, was laid ; but upon stocks and secu- 
rities and all other kinds of property in the United States owned 
by citizens of the United States residing abroad five per cent., 



HISTORY OF THE DIRECT TAX. 223 

witli the same exception of one and a half per cent, upon that 
portion of it derived from the United States bonds. This in- 
come tax was to become operative January 1, 1862. In esti- 
mating income, taxes of all kinds were to be deducted. 

The history of this direct tax act is brief, all its require- 
ments having been suspended for further action of Congress,* 
except in so far as related to the collection of the first annual 
direct tax of $20,000,000. All the States (except Delaware) 
and Territories (except Colorado) and the District of Columbia, 
formally assumed the payment of their quotas. Of course the 
eleven States in rebellion did not. In Delaware and Colorado 
provision was made for its collection by internal revenue 
officers ; and in the States in rebellion by boards of tax com- 
missioners. The whole amount apportioned to those States was 
$5,153,891.33, of which there yet remains uncollected $2,661, 
T82.62. Alabama has paid no part of her quota. In some of 
the rebel States lands estimated to be worth seven hundre«!;l 
thousand dollars were seized and sold for non-payment of the 
taxes, and were bid in by the commissioners for the benefit of 
Government. Utah and Oregon paid no part of their quotas — 
while unsatisfied balances, to an aggregate of about one and a 
half million dollars, remain standing against ISTew York, 'Wis- 
consin, Kansas, California, South Carolina, and Delaware, and 
the Territories of "Washington and Colorado.* The direct tax 
levied by this act was upon real estate exclusively. 

The extraordinary session came to an end on the 6th of 
August. 

Though the fall of Sumter had been followed by a great 
uprising of the Northern people, and the determination to sup- 
press the rebellion was universal and sincere, yet theie was no 
really serious apprehension of a prolonged and calamitous war. 
The shooting of Colonel Ellsworth at Alexandi'ia curiously illus- 
trated the prevailing general incredulity. The news excited 
in the Xorth an astonishment and indignation so wide-spread and 
profound as to indicate clearly enough how remote from the 

* July 1, 1862, and June 30, 1864. 

* Report of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 1870. Since the date of the 
report from which the facts in the text are taken, New York certainly (and perhaps 
others of the then dehnquent States) has paid its quota. 



224 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

popular mind tlie tremendous reality of the impending con- 
flict was. 

The battle of Bull Eun put an end to delusion. It illus- 
trated instantly and decisively that the country had entered 
upon a career of civil war, and that to carry it successfully for- 
ward required large measures. 

General McClellan was called to Washington and made 
general-in-chief. The reorganization and augmentation of the 
armies involved greatly enlarged expenditures, and bore heavily 
upon every resource at the command of the Treasury. The 
requirements of each day were over a million of dollars. For 
the last quarter of the year 1861 the expenses averaged, in round 
' numbers, forty-eight millions a month.* 

\i Under authority conferred by the acts of the extra session, 
^^and as measures of temporary relief, the Secretaiy issued $14,- 
''^^19,034 in six per cent, two-years Treasury notes, and $12,8Y7,- 
^^^50 in six per cent, sixty-days Treasury notes. The first of 
f^nese were in part paid to public creditors and in part exchanged 
ro^. coin at par; and the second in exchange for money bor- 

^'^ed. 
after^^^gpg -^ere taken also for the early issue of the currency 
of th4;^ard popularly known as the " demand notes." The first 
departlt^gg appeared in August, and were paid to the clerks in the 
ment. tt-^gj^^g fQj. salaries, and to other creditors of the Govern- 
on the^ There was on their first appearance a genuine reluctance 
means oi part even of loyal people to receive them, and as a 
(Mr. GecF securing their credit, the Secretary and his Assistant 
Treasury ^-.Pge Harrington), and other leading ofiicers of the 
agreeing i (^and perhaps of other departments) signed a paper 
notwithstaL-Q accept them in payment of their salaries ; all this 
will into go:-^^ng the fact that the notes were convertible at 
sion of cash \^^ q^^^ actually were so converted until the suspen- 
chants and si payments in the following December. The mer- 
and railroad c;^op-keepers at "Washington sought to discredit them, 
any rate, and Officers and banks and bankers in some instances at 
ceive them at i j^ different parts of the country, refused to re- 
> The payments f dh But they soon established themselves in the 

vember, $55,524,675. ^^^ ^^^ Treasury for October, 1861, were $45,'78'7,054.02 ; No- 
86 ; December, $42,461,268.'73. 



THE NATIONAL LOAN. 225 

public confidence, and were everywliere preferred to the State 
bank currency. The whole amount of these demand notes in 
circulation at the time of the suspension of cash payments in 
the following December, was about thirty-three millions/ 

In order to provide for the permanent and regular war ex- 
penditures, the Secretary determined to engage the banking 
institutions of the three chief cities of the ITorth to advance the 
sums needed, in the form of loans for three-years seven-thirty 
bonds, to be reimbursed, so far as practicable, from the proceeds 
of similar bonds to be subscribed for by the people through the 
agencies of the National Loajs", using in the mean while, in aid 
of these advances, the power of issuing United States small 
notes. " Upon this plan he hoped," he said, " that the capital 
of the banks and the people might be so combined with the 
credit of the Government as to give efficiency to administrative 
action, whether civil or military, and competent support to the 
public credit." 

With these objects in view, Mr. Chase invited representa- 
tives from the banks of JSTew York, Boston, and Philadelphia, 
to meet him in the first-named city.' To this invitation there 
was a prompt response, August 19, 1861. 

^ More than one professedly loyal railroad corporation refused these notes in pay- 
ment of fares and freight ; to such Mr. Chase wrote remonstrances very brief and 
effective. The writer hereof — then a clerk in the Treasury Department — ^probably 
brought the first of these notes to Philadelphia, and he experienced a considerable 
difficulty in inducing the acceptance of one of them at the Continental Hotel. About 
the time of the suspension of cash payments, a wealthy New-Yorker came into the 
possession of a large sum — approximating to one million of dollars — in " demand 
notes." He offered them for deposit in a leading bank in New York ; the officers 
of which refused to receive them, however, in the ordinary course of their business, 
or in any other way than as a special deposit. Having no alternative, the gentle- 
man reluctantly consented. The " demand notes " being receivable for customs the 
same as coin, kept pace pari passu with the advance in the price of coin ; and when 

the depositor in the Bank withdrew his deposit, " demand notes " were worth 

nearly or quite one hundred and fifty per cent, premium, measured in legal tenders ! / 
Mr. M. B. Field gives me this anecdote. 

2 Mr. Thomas S. Townsend, compiler of " Townsend's National Record," contrib- 
utes to the Clironotype for May, 18'73, some interesting notes concerning Mr. Chase's 
financial management, from which I extract the following : 

When Secretary Chase came to New York to get his first loan, the London Times 
said he had " coerced $50,000,000 from the banks, but he would not fare so well 
at the London Exchange." 

The Economist, a prominent London financial authority, said : " It is utterly out 
15 



226 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Tlie conferences of tlie Secretary witli the bank representa- 
tives were full and unreserved. Mr. Chase explained to them 
the situation of the country ; the large inevitable expenditui-es 
necessary for the suppression of the rebellion; his hopes of a 
vigorous prosecution of all the measures requisite to that great 
end ; his wishes and efforts for economy ; his views of the in- 
expediency of high rates of interest, which might suggest a 
possibility of future inability to pay it, and his desire to enlist 
their aid in conducting the operations of the Treasury. 

The bank representatives, on their side, explained the posi- 
tion of the banks. They alleged their disposition to sustain 
the Government, and their inability to take more bonds than 
their disposable capital allowed, without a prospect of an early 
sale and distribution. They urged that Mr. Chase was too 
stringent in his ideas about the rates of interest ; and on some 
other points illiberal, and not sufficiently considerate of their 
interests. 

There was danger that the result of the conferences would 
not be satisfactory. The Secretary said he was sure the banks 

of the question, in our judgement, that the Americans can obtain, either at home or 
in Europe, any thing Hke the extravagant sums they are asking — for Europe won^t 
lend them ; America cannot." 

American credit in Europe, so far as financial affairs were concerned, was re- 
duced to such a low state, and the destruction of the Union considered so certain, 
that the British agent at Washington for the London bankers, through whom our 
Government business was transacted, called on Sunday, after hearing of the first 
Bull Run battle, to have his " little bill " attended to ; and requested the Acting 
Secretary of the Treasury (Mr. George Harrington) to give security for the payment 
of about $40,000 of balance due ! The Acting Secretary replied to this dunning re- 
quest by directing the anxious inquirer to call on Monday, as the Government would 
not probably break up before business hours next day. 

The London Times also uttered this solemn announcement : " iVb pressure that 
ever threatened is equal to that which now hangs over the United States ; and it may 
safely be said that if, in future generations, they faithfully meet their liabihties, they 
will fairly earn a fame which will shine throughout the world." 

The London Times, in March, 1863, concluded an article about Secretary Chase's 
stupendous operations by exclaiming : " What strength, what resources, what vital- 
ity, what energy, there must be in a nation that is able to ruin itself (!) on a scale so 
transcendent and magnificent ! " 

And " The Thunderer," a year later, complimented the American financier by 
declaring that " the hundredth part of Mr. Chase's embarrassments would tax Mr. 
Gladstone's ingenuity to the utmost, and set the [British] public mind in a fermoit 
of excitement." 



AERANGEMENTS WITH THE BANKS. 227 

wislied to do all tliat was in their power to support tlie Govern - 
ment, and hoped they would find themselves able to take the 
loans on terms that could be admitted. " If not, I will go back 
to Washington, and issue notes for circulation ; for it is certain 
that the war must go on until the rebellion is put down, if we 
have to put out paper until it takes a thousand dollars to buy a 
breakfast." ' 

It was finally agreed that the banks of the three cities should 
unite as associates, and advance to the Government fifty millions 
of dollars ; five millions down, and the rest as the money was 
wanted, on the Secretary's warrants in favor of the assistant 
treasurers ; and the Secretary was to appeal to the people for 
subscriptions to a national loan on three-years notes bearing 
seven-thirty per cent, interest, and convertible into twenty-year 
bonds bearing six per cent, interest, and pay over the proceeds 
of these subscriptions to the banks, in satisfaction of their 
advances, so far as they would go, and to deliver to them seven- 
thirty notes for any deficiency. The advances of the banks 
were to be in coin. 

The stipulations of this agreement were faithfully fulfilled. 
Mr. Chase caused subscription-books for the national loan to be 
opened in all the chief cities and towns of the loyal States ; the 
people responded with alacrity, and enabled him to pay to the 
banks about forty-five millions of dollars — the remainder of 
their advances was made good by the dehvery of the promised 
seven-thirty three-years bonds. 

The operation enabled the banks to make to the Govern- 
ment a second loan of fifty milHons on very nearly the same 
terms as the first. But it had become evident that the popular 
subscriptions would not continue to be as large and prompt as 
before; while the inconvenience of their management by the 
department (it had necessitated a considerable increase in the 
clerical force) proved to be very gi^eat. The accounts of the sub- 
scription agents were, therefore closed, and the notes for the 
second loan were delivered directly to the bankers, who distrib- 

* In the course of these conferences it was suggested by one of the bankers that 
the banks should offer an ultimatum, "No," said Mr. Chase; "it is not the busi- 
ness of the Secretary of the Treasury to receive an ultimatum, but to declare one if 
it shall become necessary." 



328 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

uted them as best suited themselves. This arrangement very 
much simplified the transaction, so far as it affected the Treas- 
ury, but it was not quite so convenient or advantageous to the 
banks. 

By these two loans the Secretary obtained one hundred 
milhons of dollars, paying — under the immediate exigency — a 
rate of interest but one and three-tenths per cent, higher than 
the ordinary rate of six per cent., and that only for three years. 

Mr. Chase sought a third loan, but the banks declined to make 
it upon the seven-thirties. He was therefore compelled, by the 
absolute necessity of providing immediate means for military 
and naval disbursements, to offer another description of securi- 
ties. These were six per cent, bonds, which the act of July 17th 
had authorized the Secretary to issue, and dispose of at such a 
deduction from their face value as would make them equivalent 
to seven per cent, bonds (redeemable after twenty years) at par. 
Mr. Chase was extremely reluctant to avail himself of this 
power, but the emergency was great and pressing ; there was no 
other resource, and he submitted. Fifty millions in six per cent, 
bonds were equal to $45,795,478.48 in seven per cent, bonds, 
redeemable after twenty years ; and a third loan was taken by 
the banks upon this basis, and the Secretary delivered to them 
fifty millions of six per cent, twenty-years bonds in exchange for 
$45,795,478.48 in coin. 



CHAPTEE XXYI. 

FIRST " SEVEN-THERTY " NATIONAL LOAN WHAT THE BANKS WANT- 
ED, AND ME. CHASE WOULD NOT DO A PAPER-MONEY WAR 

INEVITABLE SUSPENSION OF CASH PAYMENTS BY BANKS AND 

GOVERNMENT, DECEMBER 30, 1861 EXTRACTS FROM MR. CHASe's 

REPORT TO CONGRESS MEASUEES PROPOSED BY HIM PRO- 
POSES A NATIONAL CURRENCY THE PUBLIC DEBT STRENGTH 

OF THE ARMY AND OF THE NAVY. 

THE first hundred millions borrowed by the Secretary from 
tlie banks were stipulated to be repaid witb funds received 
from tbe sale of the seven-thirty notes through the agencies for 
the national loan. Mr. Chase appointed one hundred and forty- 
eight agents (these were exclusive of the. Treasury agencies 
proper) ; among them Mr. Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia. The 
Secretary allowed to these agents one-fifth of one per cent, upon 
the first hundred thousand dollars of subscriptions obtained by 
them respectively, and one-eighth of one per cent, upon all sums 
in excess; and, in addition to these commissions, they were 
allowed stipulated amounts, varying according to locaUty, for 
advertising purposes, but in no single instance exceeding one 
hundred and fifty dollars. The several agents returned subscrip- 
tions amounting in the aggregate to $24,678,866.84:, of which 
sum Mr. Jay Cooke had obtained $5,224,050,' or more than one- 
fitfth of the whole. He was paid the fixed percentage, which 
aggregated $6,680.06 ; and, though he exhibited vouchers show- 
ing disbm-sements for advertising to the amount of $3,041.44 
(he had made other outlays for advertising for which he had no 

' This large sum was subscribed in and about the city of Philadelphia. 



330 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

specific vouchers), he was paid but one hundred and fifty dollars 
on that account. It was the energy and success of Mr. Cooke in 
this particular instance that first attracted the attention of the 
Secretary (who had not known him before), and led to that offi- 
cial connection which was afterward so useful to the Govern- 
ment. 

The banks had constantly and strongly urged Mr. Chase to 
forego the issue of United States notes, and to draw directly 
upon them for the sums subscribed and placed upon their books 
to the credit of the Treasury. "In what funds," asked the 
Secretary, "wiU my drafts be paid?" ""We in New York," 
was the answer, " are entirely willing to pay in coin." " But, 
suppose you in New York give checks to the Government cred- 
itor upon Cincinnati or St. Louis, in what kind of funds will the 
checks be paid at those points ? " " In whatever funds the 
check-holder would be willing to receive his pay. That is, in 
coin if the creditor insists upon coin, and the bank is able and 
willing to pay in coin ; but, if otherwise, in bank-notes." To 
this the Secretary said he could not consent. He was asked to 
borrow the credit of local banks in the form of circulation ; but 
he preferred to put the credit of the people into notes, and use 
them as money. " If you can lend me all the coin required to 
conduct the operations of the war, or show me where I can bor- 
row it elsewhere at fair rates, I will withdraw every note already 
issued, and pledge myself never to issue another ; but if you 
cannot, you must let me stick to United States notes and in- 
crease tlieir issue just so far as the deficiency of coin may make 
necessary." 

This was the language of Mr. Chase to the bankers on the 
16th of November, 1861, when he negotiated with them the 
third fifty-millions loan. His resolution was seen to be unalter- 
able, and was followed by important consequences. 

The vast operations of the war being now superadded to the 
current business of the country was rapidly modifying the con- 
ditions of the currency. If it be a"dmitted that the active coin 
circulation amounted to two hundred and ten millions on the 
16th of November (Mr. Chase estimated the coin in circidafion 
at that time, including that held by the banks, at probably not 
less than $210,000,000 ; but it was less), and that it could be 



SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS. 231 

steadily preserved at tliat sum, it was still clearly inadequate to 
the largely-increased requirements. The enormous expenditures 
of the Government would alone absorb it several times in the 
course of each year, either in the form of taxes or of loans ; the 
banks would thus be depleted of the coin necessary to redeem 
their notes ; and the Government itself, in the inevitable delay 
of collecting, transporting, and disbursing it at widely-separated 
points, could have the actual use of but a relatively small part 
of it at any one tune. Nothing was more certain, in these cir- 
cumstances, than the enforced use by both Government and 
people, of paper money, and that the banks would expand their 
issues to the utmost limits compatible — not with safety — but 
with profit. 

It speedily became apparent also that the banks could not 
dispose of their bonds for coin, and that they could not meet 
their obligations in coin ; and, moreover, that the bank-note 
circulation could not be sustained at the par of coin. To make 
that circulation receivable by the Government in payment of 
public dues could only be done at the risk of irretrievable finan- 
cial embarrassments and disorders. 

Suspension became inevitable. Some of the banks which 
had subscribed to the seven per cent, (the third fifty millions) 
loan declined to pay in coin, and even asked to be relieved from 
payment in notes of the United States. 

On the 2Tth of December, 1861, the banks agreed to suspend 
specie payments, and did suspend on the 30th of December 
following. Consequent upon this action of the banks, the Gov- 
ernment had no alternative but to dishonor its own promises, 
and it did so. It ceased to pay coin ; and from the morning of 
January 1, 1862, new elements entered into the wae finances, 
and they were elements of danger and destruction. That they 
were escaped, and the supplies met promptly and regularly, was 
due to the wise and firm policy now adopted by Mr. Secretary 
Chase. 

It need scarcely be added, that this action of the banks of 
ITew York and the Government was promptly followed by the 
banks throughout the country. 

Preceding the suspension, however, on the 9th of December, 
1861, Mr. Chase submitted his second report to Congress. He 



233 ' I-IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

exhibited a summary of tlie results of Ms operations up to the 
30th of November : 

There were paid to creditors, or exchanged for coin at 
par, at different times in July and August, two 
years' six per cent, notes to the amount of . . $14,019,034 66 

There was borrowed at par, in the same months, upon 

sixty days' six per cent, notes the sum of . . 12,877,750 00 

There was borrowed at par, on the 19th of August, upon 
three years' seven-thirty bonds, issued for the 
most part to subscribers to the National Loan, . 50,000,000 00 

There was borrowed, October 1st, on the like securities, 50,000,000 00 

There was borrowed at par, for seven per cent., on the 
16th of November, upon twenty years' six per 
cent, bonds reduced to the equivalent of sevens, 
including interest 45,795,478 48 

There were issued, and were in circulation and on de- 
posit with the Treasurer, November 30th, of de- 
mand notes 24,342,588 14 

Making an aggregate realized from loans in various 

forms of $197,242,588 14 

The receipts from the customs, which he had in July esti- 
mated at fifty-seven millions for the fiscal year 1862, he now 
stated would not probably exceed $32,198,602.55. The actual 
receipts for the first quarter of the year had been $7,198,602.55 ; 
the remaining three-quarters could not be expected to yield over 
$25,000,000. He reduced the estimated receipts from public 
lands and miscellaneous sources from $3,000,000 to $2,354,000. 
The aggregate revenue from all sources, therefore (including the 
direct tax of twenty millions), he reduced to $54,552,665.44, 
being $25,447,334.56 less than the estimate of July. He attrib- 
uted this difference between his former estimates and the actual 
results to the fact that Congress had not adopted — at the July 
session — ^the scale of duties he had proposed upon tea, coffee and 
sugar, and more especially to the changed circumstances of the 
country, which had proved, even beyond anticipation, unfavor- 
able to foreign commerce. But large as this reduction was, 
it would not — he said — have compelled him to ask additional 
powers for the negotiation of loans beyond those asked for in 
his July report, had appropriations and expenditures been con- 



ESTIMATES AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 233 

fined witliin the estimates then submitted. Those estimates had 
been made upon the understanding that it ■would be necessary 
to bring into the field an aggregate of three hundi'ed thousand 
men, volunteers and regulars ; but after the estimates had been 
furnished to him and his report closed, the President had thought 
it expedient to ask for four hundred thousand men and four 
hundred millions of dollars. Congress went even beyond the 
recommendation of the President, and had authorized the ac- 
ceptance of five hundred thousand volunteers. The large in- 
crease of the army and navy in men and officers — whose pay 
and rations had also been liberally increased — ^had augmented 
and would continue to augment the expenditures far beyond 
the limit indicated in the original estimates, and the limit would 
have to be still further extended by the sums required for the 
increase of the navy and other objects. Large additional appro- 
priations were therefore necessary — of these $47,985,566.61 were 
in consequence of expenditures authorized at the last session, 
$143,130,927.76 were for future demands ; making an increase, 
including $22,787,933.31 for indefinite appropriations and re- 
demption of temporaiy debt, beyond the estimates, of July, of 
$213,904,427.68. 

To provide the sums needed, the Secretary proposed : 
The reduction of expenditure within the naiTOwest possible 
Hmits ; contracts of every description to be subjected to strict 
supervision, and contractors to rigorous responsibility ; the abo- 
lition of unnecessary offices and reduction of salaries ; forfeiture 
of the property of rebels ; that the duties on brown sugar should 
be increased to two and one-half cents per pound ; on clayed 
sugar to three cents ; on green tea to twenty cents per pound ; 
and to five cents per pound on coffee ; but thought no other 
alterations in the tariff would be expedient, unless changed 
circumstances should show their necessity. He proposed to in- 
crease the direct tax so as to produce from the loyal States an 
annual revenue of twenty millions of dollars ; and to lay such 
duties on stills and distilled liquors, on tobacco, on bank-notes, 
on carriages, on legacies, on paper evidences of debt and instru- 
ments for conveyance of property, and other similar subjects 
of taxation, as would produce twenty millions ; and some modi- 
fication in the income tax, which he declared to be just in prin- 



234 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ciple, would probably produce ten millions more — making an 
aggregate derived from internal taxation of fifty millions of 
dollars. He conceded that this sum was large, but as the public 
necessities were also great, he felt that he could not shrink from 
a plain statement of the demands of the situation. But the 
means of the people were extensive, and the objects to be at- 
tained by a consecration of a portion of them to the public 
service were priceless. The value of the real property of the 
loyal States he stated, in round numbers, at seven and a half 
thousands of millions ; the personal property at three and a half 
thousands of millions ; and their annual surplus earnings at not 
less than three hundred millions. Four mills on each dollar, or 
two-fifths of one per cent, on their real and personal property, 
would produce forty-four millions ; to this sum the proposed in- 
come tax would probably add ten millions. The whole sum would 
be little more than one-sixth of the annual surplus earnings ; and 
he thought such a tax could certainly be paid without incon- 
venience. However, the amount to be derived from taxes formed 
but a small portion of the whole sums required for the expenses 
of the war ; the chief reliance was necessarily upon loans. But 
he made no recommendation as to the powers with which it 
might be expedient to invest him with respect to future negoti- 
ations. He referred that to the better judgment of Congi*ess, 
but suggested that the rates of interest — whatever discretion 
might be otherwise given to him — should be fixed by law ; and 
he submitted his views of a national ctJEEENCY with gi-eat full- 
ness, as appears elsewhere. 

Mr. Chase then summarized the estimated receipts and ex- 
penditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1862 : the total 
of receipts from all sources — taxes and loans — ^being $329,501,- 
994.38; and of expenditures, $543,406,422.06; showing the 
apparent amount for which recom-se must be had to future loans 
of $213,904,427.68. 

In order to complete the view of the financial situation, he 
summarized the facts and probabilities of the public debt : ' 

' The Secretary up to the date of this report had reimbursed to the States of 
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Hamp- 
shire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, the sum of $4,514,078.51, 
being 40 per cent, of the sums they had severally advanced on account of war ex- 



STRENGTH OF ARMY AND NAVY JULY, 1861. 235 

July 1, 1860, the debt was .... $64,769,703 08 

July 1, 1861, the debt was . . . . 90,867,828 68 

July 1, 1862, it would probably be . . . 517,372,803 93 

The estimated strength of the army at the date of this re- 
port was as follows : 





Volunteers. 


Eegiilars. 


Aggregate, 


Infantry .... 


. 557,208 


11,175 


568,383 


Cavalry 


54,654 


4,744 


59,398 


Artillery .... 


. 20,380 


4,308 


24,688 


Riflemen and sharpshooters 


8,395 


• • • • 


8,395 


Engineers .... 


• • • • • 


107 


107 


Total . . 


640,637 


20,334 


660,971 



These were for three years " or the war " — in addition were 
77,875 three-months troops, making an actual aggregate of 
718,512. 

The increase in the naval forces was proportionate. On the 
4th of March, 1861, the navy consisted of forty-two vessels, 
carrying five hundred and fifty-five guns and about seven thou- 
sand six hundred men. December 2, 1861, the number of 
vessels in the navy (including some in course of construction 
and some purchased vessels in course of equipment) was two 
hundred and sixty-four, caiTying twenty-five hundred and fifty- 
five guns and twenty-two thousand men. 

An act was passed and approved December 21:th, by which 
the duties on tea, coffee, sugar, etc., were fixed at the rates pro- 
posed by Mr. Chase. This was the only fiscal legislation of the 
second session of the Thirty-seventh Congress preceding the 
close of the year, and the suspension of cash payments, Decem- 
ber 31, 1861. 

penses. Before sending to Congress the report from which these figures are ex- 
tracted, Mr. Chase was asked by some prominent financial gentlemen of New York 
to make the best showing he' could, and very particularly to state the pubUc debt 
and its probabihties at the lowest possible sum. To this Mr. Chase replied, that 
this would not be compatible with his views of duty ; that he felt bound to state the 
facts as they were ; and if the reader will take the trouble to compare his estimates 
with the results of the debt, he will see how nearly they approximate. On the 30th 
of June, 1862, it was $514,211,371.62; and on the 30th of June, 1863, it was 
$1,098,793,181.37 — his estimate hi his report of December, 1862, having been 
$1,122,297,403.24. 



CHAPTER XXYII. 

MTLITAIiY AND FINANCIAL SnUATION IN JANUARY, 1862 — ^A HAED- 

MONEY "WAR IMPRACTICABLE PROPOSAL OF MR. THADDEU8 

STEVENS TO ISSUE LEGAL-TENDER PAPER MONEY MR. CHASe's 

OPPOSITION TO THIS PROPOSAL EXTRACTS FROM HIS LETTERS 

AND REPORTS ON THE SUBJECT HIS EFFORTS TO AVOID THE 

LEGAL TENDER — FAILURE OF THESE EFFORTS, AND SUBMITS TO 
AN UNAVOIDABLE NECESSITY OPINIONS OF REPUBLICAN REP- 
RESENTATIVES AND SENATORS ON THE LEGAL TENDER PAS- 
SAGE OF THE LEGAL-TENDER ACT ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY 

MILLION DOLLARS AUTHORIZED A SECOND EMISSION OF ONE 

HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS SANCTIONED BY CON- 
GRESS SUMMARY OF THE WHOLE ISSUES AUTHORIZED 

EFFECTS OF THE LEGAL TENDER. 

THE situation, military and financial, at the beginning of tlie 
year 1862, was gloomy and inauspicious. The " Trent 
affair " had culminated that day in the release of the rebel en- 
voys, Mason and Slidell, from their imprisonment in Foi-t War- 
ren, and the recommenceme^c of their journey, from Boston 
Harbor, toward England. 

The whole course of the Trent transactions had been a sore 
wound to the national pride. Men of all parties felt that 
England had conducted them in a characteristic spirit of insult 
and menace. The history of this " affair " is brief : 

On the 8th of November, 1861, Captain Charles Wilkes — 
commanding the sloop-of-war San Jacinto, then cruising in the 
Bahama Channel — ^forcibly detained the English mail-steamer 
Trent, and took from aboard of her James M. Mason and John 



THE "TRENT AFFAIR." 237 

Slidell, who were maldng their way to England as emissaries of 
the Confederate Government. They were brought to the United 
States and lodged as political prisoners in Fort WaiTen. 

The news of this capture was received in the United States 
with pride and exultation ; in England with a storm of anger. 
The British flag, it was almost universally declared, had been 
insulted and outraged, and a reparation must be exacted as ample 
as the offense had been great. Her Majesty's Government was 
prompt to action ; it was instantly as industrious in preparing 
for war as if war had been actually declared. 

A special messenger was immediately dispatched to "Wash- 
ington, carrying private instructions to the British minister — 
which, however, for entirely obvious reasons, were made public 
at the earliest opportunity. Lord Lyons was instructed to exact 
not only the immediate release of the Confederate emissaries, 
but an ample apology also. "Should Mr. Seward ask time," 
said Lord Russell to Lord Lyons, " for the consideration of this 
grave and serious matter, you will allow not exceeding seven 
days." Wot exceeding seven days! On this occasion, at any 
rate, l^Ii-. Lincoln's Govei-nment was uncommonly efficient, and 
in six days Mason and Slidell were delivered up. 

There was little in the military situation at that time to 
compensate for the deep humiliation of the Trent business. 
Quite otherwise indeed. ITothing at all had been accomplished ; 
and the vast armies of the republic — excepting that under Grant 
in the West — ^lay inactive. The public heart was sore and rest- 
less ; and a great clamor suddenly arose. A victim was needed. 
The administration of the War Department was famously in- 
competent ; it commanded the confidence neither of the Presi- 
dent nor of the people. It is not surprising, therefore, that the 
public exasperation concentrated itself furiously upon Mr. Cam- 
eron. ]\L". Lincoln promptly seized an opportunity he had long 
wished ; he sent a note of three lines to Mr. Cameron, inform- 
ing him that the President had made up his mind to accept his 
(Mr. Cameron's) resignation as Secretary of War. Mr. Came- 
ron, however, had not offered any resignation, either verbal or 
wiitten. But he went out of office, and was succeeded on the 
13th of January by Edwin M. Stanton. 

Some military successes followed promptly upon ]\Ir. Stan- 



238 LtFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ton's accession; tlie victory at Fisliing Creek, tlie capture of 
Forts Henry and Donelson, and of Roanoke Island. They 
were utterly indecisive, it is true, but they were important dis- 
asters to the insurgents ; who, however, exhibited no signs of 
weakness nor of yielding ; contrariwise, they seemed to be in- 
spired to new and more vigorous efforts. 

Mr, Lincoln's government was now in the midst of great 
difficulties. The magnitude of the war was enormously beyond 
all expectation; and the wisest could not forecast its issue. 
Though at peace with foreign nations, our foreign relations were 
a subject of more or less anxiety. At home the political ele- 
ments were not united in support of the war. Instead of the 
army of four hundred thousand men proposed by the President 
at the extra session in July, 1861, seven hundred and fifty thou- 
sand had been accepted up to the beginning of the new year, 
and recruiting still went on. To support this immense soldiery, 
and an extensively enlarged navy, required great resources — but 
the Treasury was almost empty. The public debt already reached 
three hundi'ed millions of dollars (January 2Sth), and one hun- 
dred millions were overdue. The daily expenditures approxi- 
mated to two millions ; three hundred and fifty millions were 
necessary to carry the Government through to the end of the 
fiscal year (June 30, 1862),* while upon the best showmg the 
existing resources of the Treasury would be exhausted in less 
than fifty days. Income from taxes was hopelessly inadequate ; 
loans could not be procured, except of bank-notes and upon in- 
admissible discounts ; the public necessities pressed inexorably, 
and the people were impatient and clamorous. Delay was dan- 
gerous, therefore, in every aspv. t. 

The suspension of cash payments by the Govermnent, as well 
as by the banks, developed that a resort to papek money had be- 
come unavoidable. A " hard-money " war was impracticable. 
The Treasury was forced to make choice, therefore, between the 
inconvertible notes of the local banks and the inconvertible notes 

* These were the estimates of Mr. E. G. Spaulding, of Buffalo, in the House of 
Representatives on the 28th of January, 1862. They were not borne out by the 
facts as they existed June 30, 1862; but they are quoted as showing the reasons 
upon which action on the legal tender was largely founded at the time of its discus- 
sion in January and February, 1862. 



OPPOSES GOVERNMENT ISSUES. 239 

of tlie Government. In either case expansion was inevitable : 
in the first, the issues would have been determined only by con- 
siderations of bank profit ; in the second, by the pubhc necessi- 
ties — as afterward happened. 

The Secretary of the Treasury and the Finance Committees 
of both Senate and House agreed fully as to the inexpediency 
of using bank-notes, and in the poHcy of issuing a circulation 
founded upon the public faith. They did not agree, however, 
as to the character of this circulation. 

Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, representing the paper-money idea in 
its simplest form, proposed the issue of United States notes to 
an amount adequate to the wants of the Treasury, which should 
be receivable in payment of Government dues of every kind, 
and be a legal tender in payment of all debts both public and 
private. But Mr. Chase had already, in his report to Congress 
made on the 9th of December, 1861, expressed his aversion to a 
circulation of United States notes even when convertible into 
coin. He admitted that the substitution of a national for a State 
circulation would not be without benefits ; the people would gain 
the advantage of a uniform currency, and relief from a considera- 
ble burden in the form of interest upon debt. If a scheme could 
be devised by which such a circulation would be certainly and 
strictly confined within the real needs of the people, and kept 
constantly equivalent to specie by prompt and certain redemp- 
tion in coin, it could hardly fail of legislative sanction. But he 
expressed his apprehension that it would be attended with seri- 
ous hazards and inconveniences. The temptation, especially 
great in times of pressm-e and danger, to issue notes without ad- 
equate provision for redemption ; the ever-present liabihty to be 
called on for redemption beyond means, however carefully pro- 
vided and managed ; the hazard of panics, precipitating demands 
for coin concentrated on a few points and a single fund ; the 
risk of a depreciated, depreciating, and finally worthless paper 
money ; the immeasurable evils of dishonored public faith and 
national bankruptcy : all these were possible consequences of a 
system of government circulation. It might be truly said, per- 
haps, that they would be less deplorable than those of an irre- 
deemable State-bank circulation; but the possible disasters of 
the plan so far outweighed its probable benefits, that he felt him- 



240 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

self constrained to forhear recommending its adojytion.^ These 
words were written of a system the basis of which was coin, 
and under which, as was supposed, the convertibility of the 
notes into gold and silver would be steadily sustained.' 

Mr. Chase was not without a remedy, however. In order to 
supply a sound and uniform currency — one entirely adequate to 
the wants of the country at the same time that it furnished a 
sure guarantee against excessive issues and uncertain value and 
credit — he proposed that system of national banking associ- 
ations which at a later period was authorized by the action of 
Congress. The principal featm'es of this system he explained to 
be : First, a circulation of notes bearing a common impression 
and authenticated by a common authority (that of the national 
Government); second, the redemption of these notes by the 
associations and institutions to which they were to be delivered 
for issue; and, third, the security of that redemption by the 
pledge of United States stocks, and an adequate provision of spe- 

' The reflections of Mr. Hamilton upon this point are too full of wisdom to be 
omitted : " The emitting of paper money by the authority of Government is wisely 
prohibited to the individual States by the Constitution, and the spirit of that prohi- 
bition ought not to be disregarded by the Government of the United States. Though 
paper emissions under a general authority might have some advantages not appli- 
cable, and be free from some disadvantages which are applicable to the like emissions 
by the States separately, yet they are of a nature so liable to abuse — and, it may be 
affirmed, so certain of being abused — that the wisdom of the Government will be 
shown in never trusting itself with the use of so seducing and dangerous an expedi- 
ent. In times of tranquillity it might have no ill consequence ; it might even perhaps 
be managed in a way to be productive of good ; but in great and trying emergencies 
there is almost a moral certainty of its becoming mischievous. The stamping of 
paper is an operation so much easier than the laying of taxes, that a Government in 
the practice of paper emissions would rarely fail, in any such emergency, to indulge 
itself too far in that resource, to avoid as much as possible one less auspicious to 
present popularity. If it should not even be carried so far as to be rendered an 
absolute bubble, it would at least be likely to be extended to a degree which would 
occasion an inflated and artificial state of things, incompatible with the regular and 
prosperous course of the political economy." — {See Alexander Hamilton's " Eeport 
on a United States Bank.") 

** Mr. Chase, prior to his annual report submitted to Congress, December 9, 1861, 
was confident there would be no suspension of cash payments. Mr. Maunsell B. 
Field, in his book, " Memories of Many Men and of Some Women," mentions (pp. 
255, 256) two conversations between Mr. Chase and Mr. John J. Cisco, in both of 
which the former declared emphatically that so long as he was Secretary there 
should be no suspension. 



THE NATIONAL CURRENCY SYSTEM. 241 

cie.* By tliis plan private capital would be joined with the pub- 
lic faith ; and the people, in their ordinary business, would reap 
the advantages of uniformity in cuiTency; of uniformity in 
security ; of effectual safeguard, if effectual safeguard was pos- 
sible, against depreciation ; and of protection from losses in dis- 
counts and exchanges ; while in the operations of the Govern- 
ment the people would find the further advantages of a large 
demand for Government securities, of increased facilities for 
obtaining the loans required by the war, and of some alleviation 
of the bm-dens on industry through a diminution in the rate of 
interest, or a participation in the profits of circulation, without 
risking the perils of a great money monopoly. If a credit circu- 
lation was desirable in any form, it ,would, in the opinion of the 
Secretary, be most desirable in this. The notes thus issued and 
secm-ed would, in his judgment, be the safest currency the coun- 
try ever enjoyed ; they would be of equal value in every part 
of the Union. By adopting this system, the whole circulation 
of the country, except a small amount of foreign coin, would, 
after the lapse of two or three years, bear the impress of the 
nation whether in coin or notes ; while the amount of the lat- 
ter, always easily ascertainable, and always generally known, 
would not be likely to be increased beyond the real wants of 
business. Of course it was necessary to the successful working 
of this plan that the State-bank circulation should be withdrawn 
and this national circulation substituted in its stead. He pro- 
posed, therefore, that Congress should offer inducements to the 
solvent institutions of the countiy to consent to this substitu- 
tion ; and expressed his conviction that no argument was neces- 
sary to estabhsh the constitutionality of the proposed plan. 

In order to make this plan effective for the purposes for 
which it was designed, prompt action was necessary on the part 
of Congress. Mr. Chase accordingly submitted a bill embody- 
ing the principles proposed ; but the prevailing sentiment of 
Congress was decidedly hostile, and the almost united influence 

* In his report of December, 1862, the Secretary, ■while renewing his recommen- 
dations for a system of national bank circulation, declared with emphasis that he 
proposed " no mere paper-money scheme, but, on the contrary, a series of measures 
looking to a safe and gradual return to gold and silver as the only permanent basis, 
standard and measure of values recognized by the Constitution." 

16 



243 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of the State banks — a powerful interest in the country — ^was 
against it. As stated in another place in this volume, the most 
that was done at that session was permission granted to Mr. 
Hooper to introduce a bill providing for a system of national 
banking associations, upon which, however, no action was had. 

The proposal to establish a circulation of United States notes 
in amount wholly at the discretion of Congress, and exclusively 
within the management and control of the Treasury Depart- 
ment, excited in the mind of Mr. Chase serious apprehensions of 
disaster ; but to invest these same notes, irredeemable in coin, with 
the character of legal tender in payment of both public and pri- 
vate debts, and necessarily retroactive in its scope and operation, 
filled him with an almost invincible repugnance. He thought 
it a measure of great violence ; of doubtful constitutionality, and 
certain to lead to many hardships and much injustice. But deeply 
as he felt these considerations, he felt that the safety of the 
state was indeed the supreme law. The inexorable necessity 
remained that a currency should be provided in which loans 
could be negotiated and the transactions of the Government 
could be carried on. In existing circumstances, his scheme of a 
national circulation issued through the instrumentality of bank- 
ing institutions controlled by the national authority, was imprac- 
ticable ; but he did not despair of avoiding the legal-tender 
sanction. He proposed several modes of doing this — the more 
important of which was, perhaps, that the banks should receive 
and disburse the Government notes as they did their own. He 
believed that such an arrangement would give them as much 
credit as the legal-tender sanction would. But the banks resisted 
his wishes. To none of his projects would they give any thing 
approximating to a unanimous consent. Some manifested a dis- 
position wholly to discredit the national circulation,* whether 
issued in notes bearing interest, or issued in notes bearing no in- 
terest ; and if possible to force upon the country the circulation 
of the suspended banks. "This state of things," wrote Mr. 

* For example : not long before the passage of the legal-tender act, a distinguished 
bank president of New York — ^noted for his hostility to the measures of the Secre- 
tary, and thoroughly informed at the same time of the opposition of the Secretary to 
the legal tender, and believing doubtless that he would not consent to it — on a cer- 
tain occasion ostentatiously threw out the demand notes in receiving deposits, with 
the exultant inquiry, " What will he do now ? " 



EMINENT ADVOCATES OF LEGAL TENDER. 243 

Chase to Mr. Trowbridge, " was the high-road to ruin, and I did 
not hesitate as to the remedy. I united with those who desired 
to make the United States notes a legal tender, and joining them 
decided the success of the measm^e." 

The historical fact is, then, that Mr. Chase did not originate 
the legal-tender measure, nor come to its support even until he 
had exhausted all the means at his command to make its adop- 
tion unnecessary. And it was the fixed belief of many leading 
Republican members both of the Senate and House that it was 
unavoidable ; and of its potency in affording prompt relief no 
one had any doubt. The Chambers of Commerce in ISTew York 
and other leading cities oflScially indorsed the measm-e. Mr. 
John J. Cisco, the Assistant Treasurer at Kew York — whose long 
practical experience in financial affaii-s ^ made his opinions espe- 
cially valuable and unportant — in a letter to Mr. Chase expressed 
his belief in the necessity of the measure ; not indeed because he 
approved the principle it involved, but because the public safety 
was paramount to all other considerations. He was urged to its 
support by eminent New York merchants and bankers ; among 
the latter John Austin Stevens, at that time President of the 
Bank of Commerce. His Assistant Secretary, Mr. George Har- 
rington — in whose ability and judgment Mi*. Chase reposed great 
confidence — was earnest in his advocacy of the measm-e. " It is 
impossible to get along without it," were his emphatic words. 
This was said about the 20th of January, 1862 ; on the 29th Mr. 
Chase addressed a letter to Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, in which he 
said : 

" I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a resolution of the 
Committee of Ways and Means referring to me House bill No. 240,^ and 

* He had served in his ofBce under General Pierce and Mr. Buchanan, and con- 
sented to a temporary service under Mr. Lincoln. 

' House Bill No. 240 was entitled " An act to authorize the issue of United 
States notes, and for the redemption or funding thereof, and for funding the floating 
debt of the United States." It was reported in the House of Representatives by 
Mr. E. G. Spaulding, of New York, who said, in the course of a speech made in its 
suppc -t, and referring to the legal-tender feature : " It is a war measure ; a measure 
of necessity and not of choice, presented by the Committee of Ways and Means to 
meet the most pressing demands upon the Treasury, to sustain the army and the navy 
until they can make a vigorous advance upon the traitors and crush out the rebel- 
lion. These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary measures must be resorted 



244 lilFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

asking my opinion as to the propriety and necessity of its immediate pas- 
sage by Congress. 

"The condition of the Treasury certainly makes immediate action on 
the subject of affording provision for the expenditures of the Government 
both expedient and necessary. The general provisions of the bill sub- 
mitted to me seem to be well adapted to the end proposed. There are 
some points in it, however, which may perhaps be usefully amended. 

" The provision making the United States notes a legal tender has 
doubtless been well considered by the committee, and their conclusion 
needs no support from any observation of mine. I think it my duty to 
say, however, that in respect to this provision my reflections have con- 
ducted me to the same conclusions they have reached. It is not unknown 
to them that I have felt, nor do I wish to conceal that I now feel, a great 
aversion to making any thing but coin a legal tender in payment of debts. 
It has been my anxious wish to avoid the necessity of such legislation. It 
is at present impossible, however, in consequence of the large expendi- 
tures entailed by the war and the suspension of the banks, to procure suf- 
ficient coin for current disbursements ; and it has therefore become indis- 
pensably necessary that we should resort to the issue of United States 
notes. The making them a legal tender might still be avoided if the will- 
ingness manifested by the people generally, by railroad companies and by 
many of the banking institutions, to receive and pay them as money in all 
transactions were absolutely or practically universal; but unfortunately 
there are some persons and some institutions which refuse to receive and 
pay them, and whose action tends not merely to the unnecessary deprecia- 
tion of the notes, but to established discriminations in business against 
those who — in this matter — give a cordial support to the Government and 
in favor of those who do not. Such discriminations should, if possible, be 

to in order to save our Govemment and preserve our nationality." This bill, in its 
earlier phases, had been submitted to Mr. Chase for his reading : he returned it to Mr. 
Spaulding, with some slight modifications suggested by the settled modes, of business 
in the department, and by considerations of economy and convenience. In his note 
to Mr. Spaulding on this occasion, he said he " exceedingly regretted that it was 
found necessary to resort to the measure of malnng fundable notes of the United 
States a legal tender," but that he " heartily desired to cooperate with the commit- 
tee in all measures to meet the existing necessities in the mode most useful and least 
hurtful to the general interests." Mr. Spaulding states, in his " History of the Legal- 
Tender Paper Money of the Rebellion " (page 45), that this letter of Mr. Chase was 
regarded by a majority of the Committee of Ways and Means as non-committal on 
the legal-tender clause in the bill, and many believed that when pressed to a decision 
he would declare against its constitutionality. In order to obtain the opinion of the 
Secretary more fully, Mr. Erastus Corning offered a resolution in the committee, 
referring bill No. 240 to the Secretary, and requesting him to communicate at as 
early a day as possible his opinion as to the propriety and necessity of its imme- 
diate passage. After considerable delay, the Secretary sent the reply quoted in the 
text. 



MR. CHASE'S LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT. 245 

prevented ; and the provision making the notes a legal tender in a great 
measure, at least, prevents it by putting all citizens in this respect upon 
the same level both of rights and duties. 

" The committee doubtless will feel the necessity of accompanying this 
measure with legislation necessary to secure the highest credit as well as 
ther largest currency of these notes. This security can be found, in my 
judgment, by proper provisions for funding them in interest-bearing 
bonds ; by well-guarded legislation authorizing banking associations with 
circulation based on the bonds in which the notes ate funded ; and by a 
judicious system of adequate taxation, which wiU not only create a de- 
mand for the notes, but — by securing the prompt payment of interest — 
raise and sustain the credit of the bonds. Such legislation, it may be 
hoped, will divest the legal-tender clause of the bill of injurious tenden- 
cies, and secure the earliest possible return to a sound currency of coin and 
promptly convertible notes. 

" I oeg leave to add that vigorous military operations, and the unspar- 
ing retrenchment of all unnecessary expenses, will also contribute essen- 
tially to this desirable end." 

A few days later — on the 3d of February — ^he addressed a 
sliort note to Mr. E. Gr. Spaulding, who, as head of a sub-com- 
mittee of the Committee of "Ways and Means, had the bill con- 
taining the legal-tender clause in charge. In that note Mr. 
Chase said : 

" Mr. Seward said to me on yesterday that you had observed to him 
that my hesitation in coming up to the legal-tender proposition embar- 
rassed you ; and I am very sorry to know it, for my anxious wish is to 
support you in all respects. 

" It is true I came with reluctance to the conclusion that the legal-ten- 
der clause is a necessity, but I came to it decidedly and I support it ear- 
nestly. I do not hesitate when I have made up my mind, however much 
regret I may feel over the necessity of the conclusion to which I came. . . . 

"Immediate action is of great importance. The Treasury is nearly 
empty. I have been obliged to draw for the last installment of the Novem- 
ber loan; so soon as it is paid, I fear the banks generally will refuse to 
receive the United States notes. You will see the necessity of urging the 
bill through without more delay." 

But although the Secretary at last gave in his adhesion, the 
measure did not command the unanimous support of the friends 
of the Administration, and was solidly opposed by the Demo- 
crats. It encountered a violent hostility and opposition in both 
Houses ; the harshest denunciations being showered upon it by 



246 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

leading Kepublicans. Some of these will now be read with 
interest. 

Mr. Justin S. Morrill, of Yermont (then in the House of 
Eepresentatives) : " I should feel that I utterly failed in the dis- 
charge of my duty, if I did not find a stronger prop for the 
country than this measure — a measure not blessed by one sound 
precedent, and damned by all ! " Then followed this indict- 
ment : " It is of doubtful constitutionality ; it is immoral ; a 
breach of the public faith ; it will banish all specie from circula- 
tion ; it will degi-ade us in the estimation of other nations ; it 
will cripple American labor, and throw larger wealth into the 
hands of the rich, and there is no necessity calKng for so desper- 
ate a remedy. ... I protest against making any thing a legal 
tender but gold and silver, as calculated to undermine all confi- 
dence in the republic." 

Mr. Koscoe Conkling, of 'New York (then also in the House) : 
— " It will proclaim throughout the country a saturnalia of 
fraud ; a carnival of rogues. Every agent, attorney, treasurer, 
trustee ; every debtor of a fiduciary character, who has received 
for others money — ^hard money, worth a hundi'ed cents in the 
dollar — will forever release himseK from liability by buying 
up, for that knavish purpose, at its depreciated value, the spuri- 
ous currency we will put afloat. Everybody will do it, except 
those who are more honest than the American Congress advises 
them to be ! . . . No precedent can be urged in its favor ; no 
suggestion of the existence of such a power can be found in the 
legislative history of the country. . . . But more is claimed " (in 
the pending measure) " than the right to create a legal tender 
heretofore imknown. It is not confined to transactions in fvr 
turo, but is retroactive in its scope It reaches back, and strikes 
at every existing pecuniary obligation." 

Mr. Owen Lovejoy : " Ko respectable argument has been 
advanced in support of its constitutionality, and as great talent 
and eminent ability have been brought to bear upon it, I take 
it that no argument can be made in vindication of its constitu- 
tionality. . . . Moreover, it is not in the power of any legisla- 
tive body to make something out of nothing." 

Mr. Thaddeus Stevens : " The measure is one of necessity 
and not of choice. No one would willingly issue paper currency 



OPINIONS OF SENATORS. 247 

not redeemable on demand and make it a legal tender. It is 
never desirable to depart from the circulating medium which, by 
the common consent of civilized nations, forms the standard of 
value." 

Mr. Fessenden, in the Senate : " It is, in my judgment, a 
confession of bankruptcy. We go out to the country with a 
declaration that we are unable to pay or borrow, and such a con- 
fession is not calculated to increase our credit. E^obody can deny 
that it is bad faith. K it be necessary for the salvation of the 
Government, all considerations of the kind must yield ; but to 
make the best of it, it is bad faith, and encourages bad morality 
both public and private. To say that notes thus issued shaU be 
receivable in payment of all private obligations is, in its very 
essence, a wrong, for it compels one man to take from his neigh- 
bor in payment of a debt that which he would not otherwise re- 
ceive or be obliged to receive, and what is not probably full pay- 
ment." He declared that it inflicted a stain upon the national 
honor, and would occasion loss that would fall most heavily on 
the poor. 

Mr. Sumner, in the Senate : " Is it necessary to incur all the 
unquestionable evils of inconvertible paper, forced into circula- 
tion by act of Congress — to suffer the stain upon our national 
faith — to bear the stigma of a seeming repudiation — to lose for 
the present that credit which is in itself a treasmy — and to teach 
debtors everywhere that contracts may be varied at the will of 
the stronger ? Surely, there is much in these inquiries that may 
make us pause. If our country were poor or feeble, without 
population and without resom*ces ; if it were already drained by 
a long war; if the enemy had succeeded in depriving us of 
the means of livelOiood — then we should not even pause. But 
our country is rich and powerful, with a great population, busy, 
honest, and determined ; and with unparalleled resom'ces of all 
kinds, agricultural, mineral, industrial, and commercial : it is 
yet undrained by the war in which we are engaged ; nor has the 
enemy succeeded in depriving us of any of the means of liveli- 
hood. It is hard, very hard, to think that such a country, so 
powerful, so rich, and so beloved, should be compelled to adopt 
a policy of even questionable propriety. If I mention these 
things — if I make these inquiries — ^it is because of the unfeigned 



248 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

solicitude I feel witli regard to tliis measure, and not witli tlie 
view of arguing against the exercise of a constitutional power, 
when, in the opinion of the Government, in which I place trust, 
the necessity for its exercise has arrived. Sm'ely, we must all be 
against paper money — we must all insist upon maintaining the 
integi'ity of the Government — and we must all set our faces 
against any proposition like the present, except as a temporaiy 
expedient, rendered imperative by the exigency of the hour. If 
I vote for this proposition, it will be because I am unwilling to 
refuse to the Government, especially charged with this respon- 
sibility, that confidence which is hardly less important to the 
public interests than the money itself." 

That feature in the bill excepting the interest on the public 
debt and duties on imports * from the operation of the legal ten- 
der, and making them payable in coin, was condemned as an 
unjust and odious discrimination. Mr. Stevens directed his 
strong invective against it. He said that with this provision in- 
corporated (originated in the Senate) the measure had " all the 
bad qualities originally charged upon it by its enemies, and none 
of its benefits. It creates money, and by its very terms declares 
it depreciated. It makes two classes of money — one for the 
banks and brokers, and another for the people. It discriminates 
between the rights of different classes of creditors, allowing the 
capitalist to demand gold, and compelling the ordinary lender on 
individual security to receive notes which the Government itself 
has purposely discredited." Mr. Hooper also opposed this feat- 
ure, but it. prevailed — chiefly upon the ground that the credit of 
the notes would be better sustained if they were made convertible 
into coin interest-bearing securities. But Mr. Stevens, feeling 
deeply the injustice of the discrimination, made an effort to have 
the wages of the army and navy, and contractors for supplies 
furnished for their support, paid in coin ; nor was he far from 
success — sixty-seven votes being recorded in its favor to seventy- 
two against it. 

The bill became a law on the 25th of February, 1862. It 
authorized the issue of one hundred and fifty millions of United 

' Duties on imports were made payable in coin, and the coin so derived into the 
Treasury was to be reserved by the Secretary as a special fund for the payment of 
interest on the public debt. 



PROVISIONS OF THE LEGAL-TENDER ACT. 249 

States notes not bearing interest, payable at the Treasuiy of tbe 
United States, in denominations of not less tlian five dollars ; 
fifty millions to be in lieu of fifty millions of demand notes au- 
thorized in July, 1861, which were to be taken up and retired as 
rapidly as practicable (and ten millions of " demand notes," also ' 
issued under authority of an act approved February 12, 1862, 
passed while the legal-tender measure was under discussion, were 
also to be retired and legal tenders substituted in their stead) ; 
the two kinds of notes, taken together, were not to exceed one 
hundred and fifty millions ; they were to be received in payment 
of all taxes, internal duties, excises, debts and demands of every 
kind due to the United States, except duties on imports, which 
were to be paid in coin, and of all claims and demands against 
the United States of every kind whatsoever, except for interest 
upon the public debt, which was to be paid m coin ; and they 
were to be lawful money and a legal tendek in payment of 
ALL debts, public AND PRIVATE, withiu the United States, except 
duties on imports and interest on the pubhc debt,' and they were 
to be received at par in exchange for the six per cent. " five- 
twenty bonds," or any other loans subsequently sold or nego- 
tiated by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Although there was no pledge to that effect in the act, the 
whole course of the debate upon it imphed a general understand- 
ing, at any rate, that the amount of the legal tenders should not 
at any time exceed one himdred and fifty millions of dollars. 

But one hundred and fifty millions were not enough. On 
the Tth of June subsequent to the passage of this act Mr. Chase 

» On the 11th. of March, 1862, the President approved an act by which the " de- 
mand notes " were also made a legal tender ; the reason for the act being that 
although the " demand notes " were received for duties on unposts, and ought to 
have been at par with coin, some of the banks refused to receive them, and they 
were slightly depreciated in consequence. 

^ During the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of England, the imperial 
Treasury received the notes of the bank m payment of every kind of dues, and paid 
them out for interest upon the pubUc debt. This latter, of course, affected 
many persons, and was not exactly honest ; but doubtless it was better and fairer 
than to make a legal discrimmation among public creditors. It ought to be ob- 
served, too, that the depreciation of Bank of England notes, even after it began, 
was very shght and gradual, and worked no extreme hardships ; and it has been 
stated that for a short period after the suspension they were actuaUy at a slight pre- 
mium over coin. 



250 LIFE OF SALMON POSTLAND CHASE. 

applied to Congress for authority to issue one hundred and fifty 
millions more, and of this sum thirty-five millions were to be in 
denominations less than five dollars/ Great inconvenience, he 

> In his letter of June 1, 1862, to Mr. Stevens, chairman of the Committee of 
Ways and Means, Mr. Chase proposed to make arrangements for engraving and 
printing the legal-tender notes in the Treasury Department building at Washmgton. 
Congress (act of July 11, 1862) authorized him to do so. The organization of the 
" Currency Bureau " was prompt ; a suitable system of " checks and balances " was 
provided for the pubUc protection, and from its first beginning in 1862, with one male 
and four female operatives, it attained in 1864 — about the time of Mr. Secretary Chase's 
resignation — a capacity for the production of notes and bonds to the amount of six- 
teen millions of dollars a day ! — which sum it sometimes exceeded, and employed 
over five hundred operatives. This bureau was the subject of a vast deal of gossip 
and scandal ; its chief was charged with flagrant abuse of his place with respect to 
some of the women, which may or may not have been true ; and with fraud and 
peculation, which certainly was not true. There was no lack of committees ap- 
pointed both by Congress and the Secretary himself, to investigate its affairs ; these 
committees were laborious and thorough in their inquiries ; most of their members 
were either political enemies of the Secretary or personal enemies of the chief of the 
bureau ; but they developed nothing showing dishonest or even careless manage- 
ment. It was in connection with the manufacture of paper money that the employ- 
ment of women in the Treasury Department became a settled policy. The notes 
came from the bank-note companies in sheets, and at the beginning the business of 
the women was to trim them for circulation. This was afterward done by machinery ; 
many of the women were then transferred to the performance of clerical duties^and 
others were appointed in pursuance of law. 

As already said, this Currency Bureau was the subject of a great deal of official 
investigation. Indeed, it was so rarely free from some sort of exploration, at the 
direction either of Congress or the Secretary, that the head of the bureau was in the 
habit of saying that he was unhappy when a committee was not " sitting upon him." 
In the course of an investigation ordered by Congress, Mr. James Brooks, of New 
York — a Democratic member of the radical order — exercised an especially severe 
scrutiny. He felt sure that there must be numerous opportunities for the abstraction 
of bonds and currency in the printing division by its employes, and directed his ex- 
amination to their development. The system of " checks and balances " was, how- 
ever, as nearly perfect as human ingenuity could make it ; and the head of the 
bureau gave Mr. Brooks a surprising instance of this. He asked Mr. Brooks for 
a one-dollar greenback ; saying he would trace that particular dollar from the time 
it was part of a sheet of clean white paper in the " paper-room " to the hour of its 
delivery into the custody of another bureau of the Treasury Department. He did 
this, showing the course of the bill through the several rooms in which it was sub- 
jected to one operation of printing or another, and the several hands operating upon 
it until it at last emerged a completed piece of money. It was unmistakably true 
that the particular bill traced was the particular bill supplied for that purpose. 
Another instance, showing the excellence of the system, was this : One evening a sheet 
or two of fractional currency were missing ; and this, too, before a single employ^ of 
the printing division had departed for home after the day's work was done. Indeed, 



AN ADDITIONAL ISSUE ASKED. 251 

said, liad arisen from tlie want of notes of tlie smaller denomina- 
tions, it having been found impracticable — notwithstanding the 
efforts of the Treasm-y — to procure a supply sufficient to answer 
necessary demands. The Secretary thought the Government 
might authenticate, by device and imprint, small notes as well as 
small coins ; and that a resumption of cash payments could be 
more safely and easily effected if the whole currency, large and 
small, was in United States notes. He said that while the ex- 
penses of the Government were not less than a million a day, the 
receipts from customs were only about $230,000, and the conver- 
sions of legal tenders into six per cent, five-twenty bonds did not 
exceed $150,000. " The condition of the Treasury," said Mr. 
Chase in submitting a bill in accordance with these views of the 
existing necessities, "renders prompt action highly desirable; 
and I trust it is not necessary to assure Congress that should the 
powers asked for be granted, they will be exercised only with the 
most careful reference to the requirements of the public inter- 
ests." 

The amount of legal tenders in circulation at this time was 
$14:7,000,000, being within three millions of the whole amount 
authorized by the former act. 

The popularity of the former issue was by this time general, 
and the wishes of the Secretary were promptly met. Moreover, 
Congress was wilKng to increase the supply of notes, since that 
mode of supporting the war averted, or seemed to avert, a neces- 

it was a special feature of the system that no employe was dismissed until every 
scrap of paper in the division had been strictly accounted for ; a proceeding which, 
though apparently complicated, required but a few moments for determination. On 
the occasion here referred to, the doors remained locked and no one was permitted 
to depart until the matter had been sifted and the culprit discovered. This was the 
work of a few minutes ; and an examination of the books pointed unerringly to the 
guilty person^ — a young woman of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Of course she 
vigorously denied the charge against her ; but an examination of her person, made 
by two or three elderly women belonging to the bureau, vindicated the accuracy of 
the system : the missing sheets were found concealed in the girl's clothing. The 
sum she sought to steal was small — twenty or thirty dollars, perhaps, and it was not 
thought worth while to prosecute her, though she was of course dismissed. But her 
prompt and certain discovery — the whole affair did not occupy twenty minutes — 
through the instrumentahty of the system itself, shows how complete it was and is. 
I am not aware that any similar instance occurred of an attempt by an employe of 
the bureau to steal ; which would be more honorable to hmnan nature if it were not 
in part due to precautions which make steaUng impossible ! 



252 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sity for immediate severe taxation ; and taxation is scarcely ever 
popular, even with tlie most patriotic. So an additional issue of 
one hundred and fifty millions was authorized, thirty-five mill- 
ions to be in denominations of less than five dollars. This act 
was approved by the President July 11, 1862. 

In the absence of other methods for the support of the armies 
and the navy, and in the presence of constantly-increasing ex- 
penditures and greater facilities for the production of paper 
money — joined with its growing popularity — the limit of the 
legal-tender issues was not probable to be long preserved at even 
three hundred millions. The Secretary was compelled to make 
prompt use of all the authority conferred upon him, and rapidly 
exhausted it. The system worked so efficiently, indeed, that 
before the end of the war. Congress had authorized the appli- 
cation of the legal-tender sanction to one form or another of 
Government obligations to a total amount of twelve hundred 
AND FIFTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ! Thesc Several forms of legal- 
tender obligations may be thus summarized : 

1. The legal-tender United States notes, commonly called 
" the greenbacks," four hundred and fifty millions : authorized 
by the acts of February 25 and July 11, 1862, and March 3, 
1863. Of the issues thus authorized, however, sixty millions 
were to be in lieu of the " demand-notes," and fifty millions 
were to be held as a reserve for the reimbursement of the tem- 
porary loan beyond other convenient means of satisfaction. 
The Secretary was directed to retire the demand-notes as rapidly 
as practicable. 

2. Treasury notes payable not more than three years from 
date, bearing interest in currency at a rate not exceeding six per 
cent, (principal payable in currency also), four hundi'ed millions. 
Act of March 3, 1863. 

3. Treasury notes redeemable after three years, bearing a 
currency interest not exceeding seven and three-tenths per cent, 
per annum, f om' hundred millions. Acts of March 3 and June 
30, 1864. 

How far these several acts were availed of by Mr. Chase, the 
following brief statement will show : 

The whole legal tenders outstanding on the 30th of June, 
1862, were $149,660,000 ; of which $53,040,000 were demand- 



WAR EXPERIENCE OF LEGAL TENDER. 253 

notes. The total of the public debt at the same date was 
$514,211,371.92. 

The whole outstanding legal tenders on the 30th of June, 
1863, were $390,997,608 ; of which $3,351,019 were demand- 
notes ; and the public debt was $1,222,113,559.86. 

The legal tenders outstanding June 30, 1864, amounted to a 
total of $600j431,119 ; of which $780,990 were demand-notes ; 
$431,178,670 were legal-tender notes proper ; $15,000,000 were 
three-years six per cent, compound (currency) interest-bearing 
notes ; $44,520,000 were one-year five per cent, (currency) notes ; 
and $108,951,450 were two-years five per cent, (currency) notes. 
The public debt was $1,740,690,489.49.* 

The war experience seems to justify the conclusion that the 
legal tender was a measure warranted by political and military 
necessity, and that there was no other means of escape from the 
financial embarrassments existing at the time of its adoption. 
Without it the circulating notes of the Government would have 
been of no more value than the notes of the suspended banks ; 
possibly they might have been of less value ; but with it, they 
were clothed with a power which at once gave them a marked 
superiority. Many of the banks would have rejected them — 
not always from want of patriotism, but from motives of seK- 
interest ; and they would have been refused by a considerable 
class of citizens who, hostile to the war, would not have hesitated 
to clog its management in every way not actually treasonable. 
Both these probabilities are attested by facts connected with the 
issue of the " demand-notes." The difficulty disappeared under 
the operation of the legal tender. It enabled the Government 
at once to relieve itself of embarrassment. It secured prompt 
and ample supplies for both army and navy. It relieved and 
invigorated the industries of the people. It restored confidence^ 
by furnishing a substitute for money, which for the time, at any 

' Mr. Fessenden stated that on the 30th of June, 1865, the outstanding legal 
tenders amounted to $669,255,395 ; of which $472,603 were demand-notes; $432,- 
687,966 legal tenders proper ; $42,338,710 were one and two-years currency fives ; 
$15,000,000 were three-years currency sixes ; $178,756,080 were three-years com- 
pound sixes. The public debt was $2,682,593,026.53. 

On the 31st of October, 1868, Secretary McCulloch stated the public debt at 
$2,808,549,437.55. The United States notes amounted to $428,160,669, and tho 
interest-bearing legal tenders to $173,012,141. 



254 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

rate, perfectly performed all the functions of money. Thoiigli 
it depreciated when the issues became excessive, the depreciation 
was too slow seriously to injure creditors generally. The in- 
creased business activity produced by the vast consumption 
of the Government, compensated for such losses. It did not 
bear with extreme hardship upon salaried persons, because in 
the main salaries were advanced 2>a7'i passu with the depreci- 
ation. But it did bear with great severity upon those whose 
income was derived from unchangeable annuities, and large 
classes of laborers suffered because daily wages did not keep 
pace with the depreciation. But this was somewhat compen- 
sated by the increased steadiness of labor, and the sense of 
suffering was in a measure lost in the excitement furnished by 
the war. 

Excessive issues increased the public debt more rapidly than 
if it had been possible to conduct the war npon a coin basis, 
which was not possible. In the midst of unlimited supplies of 
"greenbacks," indifference to expenditure was altogether too 
marked a characteristic of the war administration. On the other 
hand, however, these extensive issues enabled the Government 
to " float " its bonds successfully, and kept the aggregate of the 
debt far below what it would have been if the Government had 
used the notes of the banks. But they had this miserably bad 
effect : they bred extravagance and corruption among all ranks 
and classes of people, and in both the military and civil service.' 

1 "Upon an average our army, on a peace footing, has cost us $1,000 annually 
per man — rank and file. In the war in which we are now engaged we present the 
extraordinary spectacle of an army hardly ever before equaled in numbers, hired at 
the rate of wages paid to able-bodied men in the various peaceful avocations from 
which they were drawn. To the men in the ranks $13 a month is paid, with their food 
and clothing. The soldier in the French army receives only about 56 cents a 
Oionth ; the pay of our soldiers being twenty times greater. The estimate in the 
French budget for 1860 was 345,908,744 francs, or $64,687,500, for an army on a 
war footing of 762,765 men, and in addition a reserve militia on a peace footing of 
415,746 men. We all know the maintenance of such an army has created serious 
embarrassments in the finances of the empire. They have, if we may credit foreign 
journals, completely changed the policy of the emperor. It costs this country 
twelve times as much to maintain a soldier in the field as it does the French Govern- 
ment. Our forces now imder arms are, consequently, equivalent to 7,500,000 men 
for that country. It costs us two and a half times as much to maintain a soldier aa 
it does the English Government. We hire our money at twice the rate of interest. 
Our expenditures per man, measured by the standard of interest paid, are on a scale 



-- ,JTUATIONS IN THE PRICE OF GOLD. 255 

The advance in prices which happened during the war is to 
be attributed not wholly to the inflation of the currency ; it was 
due partly to the fact that the Government was a vast consumer, 
and that in the supplies furnished it was counted by most con- 
tractors legitimate to cheat the public not only in quality of 
goods but in the extortion of prices no private purchaser would 
pay. If all the corruption of this character could be uncovered, 
it would be appalling. But, after all, there is a very definite 
sense in which the inflation was the primary as well as the 
ultimate cause of the corruption and the increase in prices ; it 
furnished the means for both. 

The depreciation of the Government notes was not fairly 
marked by the premiums paid for coin. The fluctuations in the 
price of gold were certainly extraordinary, and no adequate 
cause has been assigned to account for them. But they were, 
doubtless, in part due to military disasters, in part to mere spirit 
of speculation, and in part to the arts and efiorts of public ene- 
mies operating in the gold-market. The state of the currency, 
however, did not account for them all. Thus, on the 13th of ^--^^ 
January, 1862, the premium in !N'ew York was 3 per cent. ; it 
rose to 4f on the 13th of February, and fell to 1^- on the 13th V 

of March ; then rose again, till on the 13th of June it was 5^ 
per cent. ; on the 15th of July it was lY ; on the 15th of Octo- 
bes it was 32|-, and closed on the 31st of December at 34. 
February 25, 1863, it had advanced to 72|- ; but on the 26th of 
March, there being favorable news from the Southwest, it fell to 
40J ; on the 2d of April it rose again to 58 ; a few days later, 
upon receiving report of the iron-clad attack upon Fort Sumter, 
it fell to 46, and after the battle of Gettysburg, the surrender 
of Yicksburg, and at the news of the sm'render of Port Hud- 
son, to 23^. This was in July. On the 16th of October it rose 
to 56f, and went no higher during the year. On the 2d of 
January, 1864, it opened at 52 ; it went up to 88 on the 14th of 
April, and fell to 67 on the 29th. June 22d, the date of the 

more than four times greater than for that country. England can expend $1,200,- 
000,000 a year without creating a greater burden in the shape of a public debt than 
$600,000,000 would be for the United States."— (From a " Report of the American 
Geographical and Statistical Society," January, 1862, cited by Roscoe Conkling, in 
the House of Representatives, February 4, 1862.) 



/ 



256 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

passage of the gold bill, it rose to 130, and fell next day to 115. 
On the 1st of July, the day upon which the resignation of Mr. 
Chase as Secretary of the Treasury was announced to the public, 
it went up to 185 ; on the 2d of July it receded to 130, and on 
the 6th the gold bill was repealed. On the 11th of July it 
advanced again to 184 ; on the 15th it fell to 144, and after 
various fluctuations fell on the 26th of September to 87 — thus 
rising, between the 1st of January and the 1st of July, 1864, 
from 52 to 185 ; and falling, between the 1st of July and the 
26th of September, from 185 to 87. iNone of these fluctuations 
were brought about by an increase or decrease of the currency ; 
on the contrary, gold rose most rapidly when there was no 
considerable increase of the currency, and fell in the face of 
large additions to iV It is noticeable also, that the prices of 
commodities did not fluctuate either so rapidly or extensively as 
gold ; and moreover, gold, relatively to prices before the war, 
had also suffered a serious depreciation. 

The question of the constitutionality of the legal tender 
should be kept steadily distinct from that of its necessity, even 
if, in a period of war, it be conceded that the necessity for its 
use was overwhelming and unavoidable. The framers of the 
Constitution do not seem to have provided, in the supreme law, 
for a condition of civil war, and that they intended to prohibit 
legal-tender paper seems clear upon a fair interpretation of the 
discussion in the Federal Convention in relation to the subject, 
when considered, especially, with reference to the history of le- 
gal-tender paper in the War of the Revolution. The most and 
the least that can be said of the matter may be expressed in the 
words of the sagacious De Maistre, who, in his work on " The 
Generative Principle of Political Constitutions," has said : " That 
which is most constitutional is precisely that which cannot be 
written." 



NOTE TO CHAPTER XXVII. 

It has sometimes been alleged that the act of the British Parliament 
(of 1797), authorizing the suspension of cash payments by the Bank of 
England, was substantially a legal-tender act. During the debate upon the 

' See " Report of Comptroller of the Currency," 1864. 



NOTE TO CHAPTER XXVII. 257 

bill Mr. Pitt explicitly denied that it made the bank-notes a legal tender. 
So far as concerned transactions between individuals, Mr. Pitt's denial was 
strictly true ; but they were a legal tender on the part of the bank. The 
real effect of the act was to protect debtors from arrest after tender of 
bank-notes ; though the creditor could recover cash by the ordinary course 
of law, even after such tender had been made. But British public opinion 
was so strongly in favor of the measure of bank suspension that but little 
resort was had to the courts for payment in cash, and Lord Chief-Justice 
Alvanley thanked God that few plaintiffs of such a character were to be 
found in England ! "If it had been proposed," however, said the eminent 
Mr. Huskisson, M. P., and of Pitt's administration, in a pamphlet pub- 
lished about 1810, " at once to make bank-notes a legal tender, and in 
direct terms to enact that every man should be obliged thenceforward to 
receive them as equivalent to the gold-coin of the realm, such a propo- 
sition would have excited universal alarm." 

17 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

ACTION OF THE SUPREME COUKT OF THE UNITED STATES ON THE 

LEGAL TENDER THE CASE OF HEPBURN AGAINST GRISWOLD 

WHAT THE COURT AFFIRMED IN THAT CASE RESIGNATION OF 

JUSTICE GRIER RECONSTRUCTION OF THE COURT — APPOINT- 
MENT OF JUSTICES STRONG AND BRADLEY PROMPT ATTEMPT 

TO REVERSE HEPBURN AGAINST GRISWOLD CIRCUMSTANCES 

ATTENDING THAT ATTEMPT ^THE REVERSAL ITSELF UNPRECE- 
DENTED AND REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE RECONSTRUC- 
TION OF THE COURT ^MR. CHASE ON HIS OWN ACTION IN 

HEPBURN AGAINST GRISWOLD. 

HERE follows an account of the action of the Supreme 
Court of the United States * upon the legal tender ; proba- 
bly the most remarkable chapter in the history of that tribunal : 

Mr. Justice Miller, in the dissenting opinion in the now cele- 
brated case of Hepburn against Griswold, stated that the courts 
of fifteen States had affirmed the constitutionality of the legal- 
tender act, and that but one had denied it ; this latter was the 
Court of Appeals of the State of Kentucky. It is to be ob- 
served, however, with respect to this statement of Justice Mil- 
ler, that where the members of the State courts were of opposing 
politics, the opinions on the subject were divided. 

The facts in the case of Hepburn against Griswold are 
briefly these : ' On the 20th of June, 1860, a certain Mrs. Hep- 
burn made a promissory note by the terms of which she was to 

^ This chapter is not strictly in its chronological order ; but its peculiar connec- 
tion with the preceding chapter makes it proper that it should be inserted here. 
2 8 Wallace, 604, et seq. 



CASE OF HEPBURX VS. GRISWOLD. 259 

pay to Henry Griswold on the 20tli of February, 1862, eleven 
thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. At the time the note 
was made, as well as at the time it fell due, there certainly was 
no lawful money of the United States which was a legal tender 
in payment of private debts but gold and silver coin. Five days 
after the note became due — that is to say, on the 25th of Febru- 
ary, 1862 — the legal-tender act was approved by the President. 
Mrs. Hepburn's note not being paid at matm'ity, interest accrued 
upon it. In March, 1864:, suit having meantime been brought 
on the note in the Louisville Chancery Com-t, she tendered 
$12,720 in United States legal-tender notes, being the amount 
of principal and interest and costs to the date of the tender, in 
satisfaction of Griswold's claim. The tender was refused. The 
notes were then tendered and paid into court ; the Chancellor, 
" resohdng all doubts in favor of the act of Congress," declared 
the tender good and adjudged the debt, interest and costs, to be 
satisfied accordingly. Griswold, however, was not satisfied, and 
appealed the matter to the Court of Errors of Kentucky, where 
the Chancellor's judgment was reversed and the case remanded 
with instructions accordingly. Mrs. Hepburn then carried it to 
the Supreme Court of the United States. 

It was first argued in that court at the December term 1867 ; 
and at the December term 1868 it was elaborately reargued, 
specially with reference to the constitutional question. 

The case was considered carefully and anxiously, and deci- 
sion of it was not made until the December term 1869, when 
the legal-tender act was declared unconstitutional. The mem- 
bers of the court concurring in the opinion — which was pre- 
pared and read by Chief-Justice Chase — were, the Chief-Jus- 
tice, and Associate Justices Nelson, Chfford, Grier, and Field ; 
the dissenting opinion was read by Justice Miller, and was for 
himself and Justices Swayne and Davis. 

The syllabus of the case as reported shows that the court, or 
rather a majority of its members, affirmed these propositions : 

I. Construed by the plain import of their terms and the manifest in- 
tent of the Legislature, the statutes of 1862 and 1863, which make United 
States notes a legal tender in payment of debts, public anv. tjrivate, apply to 
debts contracted before as well as to debts contracted afte enactment. 

II. . .'. . 



260 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Ill 

IV. There is in the Constitution no express grant of legislative power 
to make any description of credit currency a legal tender in payment of 
debts. 

V. The words " all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execu- 
tion" powers expressly granted or vested have, in the Constitution, a 
sense equivalent to that of the word laws, not absolutely necessary in- 
deed, but appropriate, plainly adapted to constitutional and legitimate 
ends, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit 
of the Constitution ; laws really calpulated to e^'ect objects ^intrusted to 
the Government. 

VI. Among means appropriate, plainly adapted, not inconsistent with 
the spirit of the Constitution, nor prohibited by its terms, the Legislature 
has unrestricted choice ; but no power can be derived by implication from 
any express power to enact laws as means for carrying it into execution 
unless such laws come within this description. 

VII. The making of notes or bills of credit a legal tender in payment 
of preexisting debts is not a means appropriate, plainly adapted, or really 
calculated to carry into effect any express power vested in Congress ; is in- 
consistent with the spirit of the Constitution ; and is prohibited by the 
Constitution. 

VUI. The clause in the acts of 1862 and 1863 which makes United 
States notes a legal tender in payment of all debts, public and private, is, 
so far as it applies to debts contracted before the passage of those acts, 
unwarranted by the Constitution. 

IX. Prior to the 25th of February, 1862, all contracts for the payment 
of money, not expressly stipulating otherwise, were, in legal effect and uni- 
versal understanding, contracts for the payment of coin, and, under the 
Constitution, the parties to such contracts are respCcHvely entitled to de- 
mand and bound to pay the sums due, according to their terms, in coin, 
notwithstanding the clause in that act, and the subsequent acts of like 
tenor, which made United State notes a legal tender in payment of such 
debts. 

This judgment of the Supreme Court was indorsed by many 
of the most influential Eepublican journals, and no doubt had an 
important beneficial effect upon the national credit both at home 
and abroad. But an immediate effort was made to reverse it. 
The circumstances attending that effort attracted wide attention 
and much severe comment. 

It was freely charged by Democratic partisans and by some 
Republicans also, that if the judgment in Hepburn against Gris- 
wold had not been inimical to the interests of certain powerful 
railroad corporations, it would have stood. It was alleged and 



RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SUPREME COURT. 261 

was not denied, that when Messrs. Strong and Bradley were 
made members of the conrt they were both interested as share- 
holder in the Camden & Amboy Eailroad Company. It was 
alleged also that one or both these gentlemen had formerly been 
employed as law counsel by that company, and as such counsel 
had given opinions affirming the legal tender to be constitu- 
tional. It was known too, that the Camden & Amboy Com- 
pany had, in paying the interest upon their bonds subsequent to 
the decision in Hepburn against Griswold, made a reservation 
looking to a reversal of the judgment in that case. 

But it is seems incredible that a motive so inadequate and 
ignoble as the pecuniary interests of any private corporations 
could have moved the President to the appointment of the new 
justices, or the new justices to their perhaps indiscreetly prompt 
efforts to procure a reversal ; to the mind of leading Repubhcans 
— men of irreproachable character and patriotism — ^it seemed of 
vital importance to the best mterests of the country that the 
legal tender should be supported by the court. The immense 
services it had performed in the overthrow of the rebellion were 
admitted. Many public men believed that without it the national 
efforts would have been in vain. Its use might become just as 
indispensable in some future great emergency. Should the 
country be deprived, by judical intei'pretation, of recourse to it 
if the necessity should ever again arise ? To say that it should, 
seemed a kind of political suicide. 

Mr. Justice Strong became a member of the Supreme Court 
on the 14th of March, 1870, by nomination and confirmation, in 
place of Mr. Justice Grier, whose resignation took effect on 
the 1st of February ; but there was no intimation of any piu'- 
pose to urge a reargument of the legal-tender question until 
after the confirmation by the Senate of Mr. Bradley as an addi- 
tional justice, whose appointment was authorized by an act of 
Congress passed April 10, 1869, to take effect on the first 
Monday of the succeeding December, and who was confirmed 
some weeks after his nomination, on the 21st of March, 1870. 
Mr. Justice Bradley went from l^ew Jersey to Washington on 
the 22d of March ; he was sworn into office on the 23d, and 
took his seat as a member of the court on the 2-lth. The next 
day, Friday, the first motion day afterward, the Attorney-Gen- 



263 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

eral moved tlie court tliat the two cases of Lathams vs. The 
United States, and Deming against the same, appealed from the 
Com-t of Claims, should be set down for argument — and sug- 
gested that the legal tender might be reconsidered in them. The 
next day (Saturday, March 26th) was the regular conference-day 
of the court, and upon that occasion the motion of the Attorney- 
General was considered. The four justices who had joined in 
the judgment in Hepburn against Griswold earnestly opposed a 
reopening of the legal-tender question ; but the justices who 
had dissented from that judgment insisted upon a rehearing. 
Their wishes prevailed by the votes of the new justices. An 
order was directed, accordingly, that the cases involved in the 
motion of the Attorney-General should be assigned for argument 
on the 4th of April — being the second Monday then ensuing. 
This order was in disregard of the usual practice, which is to leave 
the time for argument in cases situated as these were to be fixed 
by the counsel, subject, of course, to the approval of the court. 

Before the order was announced, however, Mr. James M. Car- 
lisle — who was of counsel for both appellants — addi-essed a letter 
to the Chief -Justice, in which he protested against a reargument 
of the legal-tender question in these cases. The rights of his 
clients, he said, had already been determined ; and the reopen- 
ing of the question would be an injustice to them. 

This being brought to the attention of the justices before 
the opening of the com*t on Monday morning, when the order 
for reargument would have been announced in the due course of 
the proceedings, the announcement was postponed until after 
the protest of Mr. Carlisle could be considered. One of the 
justices being absent, it was agi'eed that it should be considered 
the next day after adjournment of the court, which happened 
accordingly. 

The result of the discussion of Mr. Carlisle's protest on Tues- 
day was an order that the Attorney-General and Mr. Carlisle 
should be heard upon the matters involved in the motion of the 
former on Thursday morning, March 31st, and that the subject 
be considered in conference immediately after the adjournment 
of the court on that day, and that the result of the conference 
should be announced on the opening of the court the next 
morning. 



ATTEMPT TO REVERSE HEPBURN VS. GRISWOLD. 263 

This was a remarkable order, and, so far as the history of 
the com't is known, was without precedent. The regular motion- 
day is Friday, and the regular conference-day is Saturday ; and 
there is no instance upon the records which shows any anticipa- 
tion of the regular order of the business of those days to reach 
a particular case. This order was also made against the remon- 
strances of the justices who agreed in the judgment in Hepburn 
m. Griswold, and by the votes of the thi-ee justices who dis- 
sented in that case, and of the two new justices ; and was car- 
ried into full effect. 

On Thm'sday morning, accordingly, the Attorney-General and 
Mr. Carlisle were heard, an argument in progress (also in viola- 
tion of precedent) being suspended, that they might be heard. 
The conference was held immediately after the adjournment, as 
had been determined ; and a new order was passed — no inquiry 
being made into the convenience of counsel, as was the custom 
— that the " cases of Latham vs. The United States and Deming 
vs. The United States be heard upon all the questions involved 
in the records on the second Monday of April of this term " 
(which would be April the 11th). When this order was an- 
nounced in com't on the next day, the Chief-Justice distinctly 
stated that he and iustices Nelson, Clifford and Field, dissented 
from it. 

In consequence, however, of the unavoidable absence of Mr. 
Carlisle, the hearing was postponed imtil the 18th of April. 

These two cases of Lathams vs. The United States, and Dem- 
ing vs. The same, were appeals from the Court of Claims, and so 
far as the legal-tender question was involved in them, they had 
been continued under an order of the court, distinctly announced 
by the Chief-Justice — and acquiesced in by the counsel both 
for the appellants and the Government — that argument would 
not be heard in them, but that they should abide the judgment 
in Hepburn against Griswold, and in Bronson against Rodes ; 
two cases which covered the exact points raised in the cases of 
the Lathams and of Deming. The purpose of the Attorney- 
General in moving to reargue the legal tender in these cases, was 
to avoid the effect of a settled rule of the court made in 1852, \ 
that " no reargument will be gi'anted in any case, unless a mem- 
ber of the court who concuiTed in the judgment desires it." / 



264 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Ko argument, it was true, had been heard in the cases of the 
Lathams and of Deming, but those cases were as actually decided 
by the opinions in the other cases as if they had been argued 
and opinions delivered in both; and the effort to revive the 
legal -tender question in them was in substance at least a viola- 
tion of the rule of the court, since no justice who concm-red in 
the opinion in Hepburn against Griswold had intimated any 
desire for a reargument. 

The Chief -Justice called the attention of the justices to these 
facts, believing that so far as the legal-tender question was in- 
volved ui the cases, the order for reargument might be rescinded. 
But without effect. The same members of the court who had 
made the order for the argument were resolute in adhering to it. 

The question was now made whether the new justices were 
not disqualified by reason of interest in the Camden & Amboy 
Kailroad Company ; it being known that the board of directors 
of that company had made their payment of interest in coin 
contingent upon the permanence of the decision in Hepburn 
against Griswold. It transpired that one of the new justices 
had sold his stock in that company upon being advised of his 
appointment, and the other stated his purpose to do so — though 
he did not seem to think that the small sum of the stock he held 
should operate as a disqualification to determine upon the ques- 
tion. 

On Monday the 18th, just before going into court, the Chief- 
Justice and the justices learned that the cases would probably 
be dismissed. And this happened : When the cases of the 
Lathams and of Deming were called, one of the counsel repre- 
senting the appellants in both cases, arose and said that with the 
permission of the court he would move to dismiss them. To 
this objection was made by the Attorney-General, and Justices 
Miller and Bradley suggested doubts as to the rights of appel- 
lants to withdraw the appeals. Upon request of Justice Miller 
the court retired for consultation. In the consultation which fol- 
lowed, no objection was made to the dismissal by any one except 
Justice Bradley. It was agreed, however, that the leave should 
be allowed ; and upon the return of the justices, the Chief -Jus- 
tice made the annoimcement, and the cases were dismissed 
accordingly. 



REVERSAL OF HEPBURN VS. GRISWOLD. 265 

The formal reversal of the judgment in Hepburn against 
Griswold did not take place nntil the next tenn of the comi; ; 
but the events just recited gave ample notice to the country that 
a reversal would be effected at the first opportunity ; and that 
the opportunity would certainly come, and that happened which 
it was intended by the majority in the court should happen — to 
wit : the decision in Hepburn against Griswold was everywhere 
throughout the coimtry treated as a nullity. 

.... There has been no amplification of details in the 
foregoing recital of the attempt to reverse Hepburn against Gris- 
wold, as it happened immediately after Justice Bradley became 
a member of the court. There was some heated discussion in 
the conferences (as was perfectly well known at the time), and 
a lack of dignity and courtesy in what transpired in public. 
The reversal was an event without parallel in the history of the 
great tribunal ; and in view of all the circumstances attending 
upon it, has justly been called revolutionary. Aside from what 
took place in the court, in connection with the reversal, the 
action of the political and executive departments of the Gov- 
ernment in bringing it about, is an integral and important part 
of this history. 

The case of Hepburn against Griswold was first argued at 
the December term, 1867, but upon the suggestion of the Attor- 
ney-General, an order was made that it be reargued, and the 
ease was continued accordingly for that purpose. It was at the 
next term of the court again heard, and four or five other cases 
— supposed to involve the same constitutional questions — ^were 
argued at the same time, bringing, as Mr. Justice Clifford ob- 
served, to the aid of the court an unusual array of great learn- 
ing and eminent abilities. The Supreme Court at that time 
consisted of seven justices and the Chief -Justice ; and an act of 
Congress (July 23, 1863) was in force that no vacancy in the 
office of associate-justice should be filled until after the number 
of associate-justices should be reduced to six. But meantime, 
pending the consultations of the court on the question — which 
extended through several months — it began to be well under- 
stood by the public that a majority of its members were against 
the legal tender ; and opinions delivered in February, 1869, in 
two of the cases in which the legal tender was more or less in- 



266 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

volved, jpro tanto denied its constitutionality. On the lOtli of 
April, 1869, Congress passed an act, to take effect December 1st 
following, by whicb the court was again enlarged : it was there- 
after to consist of eight associate-justices and the Chief -Justice. 
Justices ]!^elson and Grier were both old men, and Justice Grier 
was very feeble and infirm, and it was well known wished to 
retire. But Justice Grier did not die, nor did he resign, and it 
was useless to appoint the additional justice provided for by the 
act of April 10, 1869, until a vacancy occurred, either by death 
or resignation, for such an appointment would still leave the 
justices in favor of the legal-tender in a minority in the court. 
JSTovember 27, 1869, Hepburn against Griswold was decided in 
conference ; in the judgment then detennined, Justice Grier 
cordially concurred. He resigned February 1, 1870 ; six days 
later, February 7th, the opinion of the court was read and 
entered. On the 14th of the same month Mr. Justice Strong 
became a member, and on the 24th of March following Mr. 
Justice Bradley took his seat in the court.y The attempt at a 
reversal of Hepburn against Griswold, which so immediately 
ensued, is recited in the consecutive order of the events attend 
ing upon it, in its proper place in tliis chapter. 

.... The partisans of the legal-tender system, in their criti- 
cisms upon Mr. Chase's opinion in Hepburn against Griswold, 
arraigned hun for inconsistency. How far that charge is borne 
out by the facts of history, the reader may inform himself by 
reading the chapter of this book immediately preceding this. 
With but a single exception, there is no utterance of Mr. Chase 
upon the subject of the legal tender there cited which is not, 
and has not for many years been, of public record. They are 
conclusive that, at the time of the legal tender act he doubted 
the constitutionality of the measure. That, though unconvinced, 
he yielded his doubts, is not surprising. Some of the ablest of 
his political associates in the Senate and House believed the 
measure to be constitutional ; the members of Mr. Lincoln's 
cabinet, with perhaps a single exception, joined in that belief ; 
and the Attorney-General of the United States, said to be a 
lawyer of great abilities and competent learning, gave a written 
opinion to the effect that it was so. But Mr. Chase was not 
hasty or inconsiderate in his judicial action. He gave to the 



MR. CHASE ON THE LEGAL TENDER. 267 

subject exliaustive historical and legal research, and a long and 
patient reflection. The ultimate conviction of his judgment 
was against the act ; and as he never hesitated in the discharge 
of a known duty, he did not hesitate in this. But he thought 
his former connection with the matter sufficiently important to 
justify some words of explanation. "It is not surprising," he 
therefore said, in his opinion in Hepburn against Griswold — 
" it is not surprising that, amid the tumult of the late civil war, 
and under the influence of apprehensions for the safety of the 
republic almost universal, different views, never before enter- 
tained by American statesmen or jurists, were adopted by many. 
The time was not favorable to considerate reflection upon the 
constitutional limits of legislative or executive authority. If 
power was assmned from patriotic motives, the assumption 
found ready justification in patriotic hearts. Many who doubted 
yielded their doubts; many who did not doubt were silent. 
Some who were strongly averse to making Government notes a 
legal tender felt themselves constrained to acquiesce in the views 
of the advocates of the measure. Kot a few who then insisted 
upon its necessity, or acquiesced in that view, have, since the 
return of peace, and under the influence of the calmer time, 
reconsidered their conclusions, and now concur in those which 
we have just announced. These conclusions seem to us to be 
fully sanctioned by the letter and spirit of the Constitution." 

And in his dissenting opinion in the "legal-tender cases" 
of Knox against Lee, and Parker against Davis ^ (it was in these 
cases that Hepburn against Griswold was reversed), he said : 
" The reference made in the opinion of the court, as well as in 
the argument at the bar, to the opinions of the Chief -Justice 
when he was Secretaiy of the Treasury, seems to warrant, if it 
does not require, some observations before proceeding further. 

"It was his fortune at the time the legal-tender clause 
was inserted in the biU to authorize the issue of United 
States notes, and received the sanction of Congress, to be 
charged with the anxious and responsible duty of providing 
funds for the prosecuting of the war. In no report made by 
him to Congress was the expedient of making the notes of the 

1 12 Wallace, 457. 



268 ■ LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

United States a legal tender suggested. He urged tlie issue of 
notes payable on demand, in coin, or received as coin in pay- 
ment of duties. When the State banks had suspended specie 
payments, he recommended the issue of United States notes, 
receivable for all loans to the United States and all Government 
dues except duties on imports. In his report of December, 
1862, he said that United States notes receivable for bonds 
bearing a secure specie interest are next best to notes converti- 
ble into coin, and after stating the financial measures which in 
his judgment were advisable, he added : ' The Secretary recom- 
mends^ therefore^ no mere paper-money scheme, but, on the con- 
trary, a series of measures looking to a gradual and safe return 
to gold and silver as tJie only permanent basis, standard, and 
measure of value recognized by tJie Constitution.^ At the ses- 
sion of Congress before this report was made, the bill containing 
the legal-tender clause had become a law. He was extremely 
and avowedly averse to this clause, but was very solicitous for 
the passage of the bill to authorize the issue of United States 
notes then pending. He thought it indispensably necessary 
that the authority to issue these notes should be granted by 
Congress. The passage of the bill was delayed, if not jeoparded, 
by the difference of opinion which prevailed on the question of 
making them a legal tender. It was under these circumstances 
that he expressed the opinion, when called upon by the Com- 
mittee of Ways and Means, that it was necessary ; and he was 
not sorry to find the act sustained by the decisions of respectable 
courts, not unanimous, indeed, nor without contrary decisions 
of State courts equally respectable. Examination and reflection 
nnder more propitious circumstances have satisfied him that this 
opinion was erroneous, and he does not hesitate to declare it. 
He would do so just as unhesitatingly, if his favor to the legal- 
tender clause had been at that time decided, and his opinion as 
to the constitutionality of the measure clear." 



CHAPTEE XXIX. 

THE TEMPOEAIiT-LOAN SYSTEM ITS USEFULNESS CEKTIFICATES OF 

INDEBTEDNESS THE FIVE-TWENTIES CONDITION OF THE NA- 
TIONAL FINANCES JUNE 30, 1862 — THE PUBLIC DEBT — CONSE- 
QUENCES OF THE SUSPENSION OF CASH PAYMENTS. 

IT lias already been explained tliat, pending the discussion in 
Congress of the legal-tender act, the Government suffered 
great embarrassment for want of means to meet its constantly- 
accumulating engagements. But beyond any former experience 
the banks were plethoric of funds. In the city of ^ew York, for 
illustration, the deposits in December, 1860, were one hundred 
and f om'teen millions ; in December, 1861, they were one hun- 
dred and forty-six millions, and at the latter period the loans 
and discounts by the same banks were twelve millions less than 
they had been at the f onner. The nile held good in all the 
large cities. The regular business of the country had been ex- 
tensively injured and reduced by the war, with the effect of 
withdrawing funds from active industrial enterprise, and their 
accumulation in the vaults of banks and bankers. 

In these circumstances, and seriously oppressed by the rapid 
and largely accniing demands upon him, the Secretary consulted 
with his Assistant Treasurer at N"ew York, Mr. John J. Cisco. 
Mr. Cisco was perfectly familiar with the monetary condition of 
the country, and was eminently practical in his financial views. 
He proposed to Mr. Chase that system of tempokaky loans, 
which was subsequently found to be one of the most important 
supports of the Treasury. The plan was to receive on deposit 
in the sub -Treasuiy the funds of individuals or coi-porations at 



270 LIJ'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

a rate of interest not exceeding five per cent, per annum ; tlie 
depositors retaining tlie privilege of withdrawing tlieir funds at 
any time — on ten days' notice — after tliirty days. 

Mr. Chase immediately adopted this proposition. Its suc- 
cessful operation was sui-prisingly great and immediate. Within 
a very few days after making public announcement the tempo- 
rary deposits aggregated many millions of dollars. The banks 
and other coi-porations and private persons promptly availed them- 
selves of its benefits with instantly 'important relief to the Treas- 
ury and almost equally important advantage to the general busi- 
ness interests of the community ; and Congress, upon the recom- 
mendation of the Secretary, in the fourth section of the " Legal- 
Tender Act," of the 25th of Febi-uary, 1862, authorized these 
temporary loans to an amount not exceeding twenty-five mill- 
ions of dollars. The offers were so much larger, however, than 
the sum fixed by the law, that, on the 17th of March following, 
the limit was increased to fifty millions ; and four months later, 
on the 11th of July, was again increased ; this time to one hun- 
dred millions, and the Secretary was at the same time authorized 
to prepare fifty millions of United States notes as a reserve to 
meet demands for their reimbursement beyond other convenient 
means of satisfaction. On the 30th of January, 1864, the limit 
was fixed at one hundred and fifty millions, and the Secretary 
was authorized to pay six per cent, interest at his discretion. 

The beneficent operation of these several acts is easily in- 
ferred from the fact that so early as the Ist of July, 1862, the 
amount of temporary loan on deposit in the sub-Treasury was 
nearly fifty-eight millions of dollars ($57,926,116. 5Y), and at one 
period during the war reached the very high aggregate of one 
hundred and twenty millions. The system was not alone of 
great advantage to the Government, but was extremely useful in 
giving steadiness to the course of the currency exchanges. Its 
utility was conspicuous when, dming a period of pressure in the 
fall of 1863, the Secretary was able to reimburse over fifty mill- 
ions of deposits in the course of a few weeks, by which action a 
pressure was alleviated which otherwise might have grown into a 
common calamity, and the Secretary used at the same time only 
about ten millions of the reserve. 

On the 1st of March, 1862, Congress authorized the Secre- 



CERTIFICATES OF mDEBTEDNESS— FIYE-TWENTIES. 271 

tary to issue " certificates of indebtedness of tlie United States " 
to such creditors of the Government as were willing to receive 
them in exchange for audited accounts. These certificates were 
payable one year from date, and were to bear interest at the rate 
of six per centum, payable in gold upon such as were issued 
prior to March 4, 1863, and in currency upon those issued after 
that date. They were not limited in amount, and were to be in 
sums not less than one thousand dollars each. By the act of March 
17, 1862, this authority was enlarged, so as to embrace checks 
drawn in favor of creditors " by disbursing officers upon sums 
placed to their credit on the books of the United States Treas- 
urer." " The power thus conferred on the Secretary," says Mr. 
Spaulding,* " to issue certificates of indebtedness for these pur- 
poses was broad and unlimited. The certificates issued under 
these two acts were in the similitude of bank-notes fitted for 
circulation as money, and did circulate to a considerable extent 
as currency until there was such an accumulation of interest 
upon them as to make it an object for capitalists to hold them 
as an investment. The Secretary began their issue simultane- 
ously with the issue of the legal-tender United States notes, and 
continued to issue them in large amounts during the progress of 
the war, which was advantageous to the Govermnent, but was 
at the same time a fruitful source of inflation, and operated di- 
rectly against any considerable funding in the long ' five- twenty ' 
bonds." In time extensive issue led to their depreciation, but 
they were chiefly received by creditors who made large percent- 
ages on their contracts with the Government. 

The act of the 25th of February, 1862 — the same which au- 
thorized the original issue of the legal-tender United States 
notes — ^in order "to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to 
fund the Treasury notes and floating debt of the United States," 
authorized him also to issue, " on the credit of the United States, 
coupon or registered bonds, to an amount not exceeding five 
hundi'ed millions of dollars, redeemable at the pleasure of the 
United States after five years, and payable twenty years from 
date, and bearing interest at the rate of six per centum per an- 
num, payable semi-annually ; " these bonds, and all other bonds, 
stocks, and other securities of the United States, held within 

* " History of the Legal-Tender Paper Money of the Rebellion," pp. 153, 154. 



272 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the United States, were declared " exempt from taxation by or 
under State autliority," and "all duties on imported goods, 
wliich shall be paid in coin or in notes payable on demand here- 
tofore authorized to be received and by law receivable in public 
dues, and the coin so paid, shall be set apart as a special fund," 
and was to be applied in the first instance to the payment of in- 
terest on the bonds and notes of the United States, and the resi- 
due to other specified purposes. The bonds here authorized were 
those afterward familiarly lmo-s\Ti as the " five-twenties," or the 
" five-twenty-sixes." Of these five-twenty bonds there were out- 
standing on the 30th of June, being the last day of the fiscal 
year 1862, an aggregate amount of $13,990,600. 

" These several measures," said Mr. Chase in his report sub- 
mitted to Congress December 4, 1862, " have worked well. Their 
results have more than fulfilled the anticipations of the Secre- 
tary. Had other urgent demands on the attention of Congress 
permitted the consideration and adoption of the suggestions 
which the Secretary ventured to submit in favor of authorizing 
the formation, under a general law, of banking associations issu- 
ing only uniform notes prepared and furnished by the general 
Government, and of imposing a reasonable tax on the circula- 
tion of other institutions, no financial necessity would perhaps 
now demand additional legislation for the current fiscal year 
(1863), except such as experience suggested for the perfection of 
measures already sanctioned." He then made a statement exhib- 
iting the practical working of the measures already in force : To 
the 1st day of July, 1862, $57,926,116.57 had been received 
and were remaining on deposit in the Treasury. United States 
notes to the amount of $158,591,230 had been issued and were 
in circulation ; $49,881,979.73 had been paid in certificates of 
indebtedness ; and $208,345,291.86 had been paid in cash. ISTot 
a single requisition from any department upon the Treasury re- 
mained unanswered. Every audited and settled claim on the 
Government, and every quartermaster's check for supplies fur- 
nished, which had reached the Treasury had been met ; and there 
remained an unexpended balance of $13,043,546.81. 

The public debt at the same date was $514,211,371.92. The 
whole income for the year, from all sources, including a balance 
in the Treasury, on the 1st of July, 1861, was $583,885,247 06, 



SUMMARY FOR FISCAL YEAR 1862. 273 

and the whole expenditm-es had been $570,811,700.25. There 
should be deducted from these figures, however, income and dis- 
bm-sements on account of the permanent and temporary debt, 
which amounted to $96,096,922.09 ; so that the total income not 
applied to repayments was $487,788,324.97, and the total dis- 
bursements $474,744,778.16. The Secretary said the average 
interest upon the whole debt was four and three-fifths per cent., 
and that it had been his constant care to reduce its cost in the 
form of interest to the lowest possible figure. But he was not 
hopeful, he added, that his exhibit for the fiscal year 1863 would 
show so favorable a rate. 

Immediately consequent upon the suspension of cash pay- 
ments in December preceding, gold and silver had disappeared 
from circulation ; small coins as well as large. Specie began, 
almost immediately upon suspension, to command a premium ; 
and on the 13th of January, 1862, it was already at three 
per cent. ! and fluctuated between one per cent, and nine and 
one-half to the 30th of June, at which date it had reached 
nine and one-fourth per cent. Meantime the State banks had 
entered upon a career of expansion, which had its relative effect 
upon the price of gold ; and, in the absence of small coins, the 
country began to be flooded with tokens and " shinplasters " in 
fractional parts of dollars, issued by cities, towns, corporations, 
brokers, merchants, grocers, bakers, liquor-sellers, and restam'ant- 
keepers, everywhere ! With these difliculties to deal with, and 
in the midst of military discouragements, the Treasury entered 
upon the second fiscal year of the rebellion, July 1, 1863. 
18 



CHAPTEK XXX. 

LETTEES AND EXTEACTS EEOM LETTEES WEITTEN IN 1861 OF 

APPOINTMENTS IN THE TEEASUET DEPAETMENT EMANCIPA- 
TION A PEOBABLE EESULT OF THE WAE — ^NATIONAL LOAN 

EMANCIPATION PEOCLA]VIATIONS BY COMIVIANDING GENEEALS 

DUTY OF GOVEENMENT TO PEOVIDE A NATIONAL CUEKENCY 

WAE DEPAETMENT EXPENDITUEES 1861 WHAT ME. CHASE 

THOUGHT OF ME. CAMEEON. 

To .' 

*'■ April \%\m\. 

" \ I THATEVER I could do for you consistently with my honest con- 
VV victions of public duty, I have done. No friend of mine has 
ever accused me of ' not remembering friends,' except when he found he 
could not promote some purely personal end through me, in disregard of 
what I honestly believed public duty to require. Nobody can say that I 
have preferred my own interests to my friends, or that I ever declined any 
service to them, except when I felt I must. 

" I had not thought, and do not now think, that under the circum- 
stances of the country, as they exist, I ought to recommend you for ap- 
pointment as collector. What I feel I ought not to do, I shall not do. I 
cannot see wherein this is unjust to you, or inconsistent with a sincere 
regard for you, and a sincere wish to serve you. If you do, I cannot 
help it." 

To John Boterts, Esq. 

" May 21, 18C1. 

" .... In making appointments, my rule always has been to give the 
preference to political friends, except in cases where peculiar fitness and 

• For obvious reasons the name \oi the gentleman to whom this letter is ad- 
dressed is omitted. 



LETTERS AND EXTRACTS. 275 

talents made the preference of a political opponent a public duty. In 
selecting among political friends, I have ever aimed to get the right man 
in the right place, without much reference to personal consequences to 
myself. Of course, I like as much as any man to favor personal friends, 
but I have never thought it right to appoint a man to office merely because 
he was such, without a careful consideration of his qualifications for the 
place. I have ever held my country as my best friend, and value those 
friends most who serve her most faithfully. Is there any thing blame- 
worthy in all this ? " 

To the Hon. Milton Sutliffe^ Warren^ Ohio. 

"^M?ielO, 18G1. 

" . . . . My time is so entirely occupied that it is next to impossible 
for me to take any part in the political organization of our State. If ours 
were the Democratic party instead of a Republican party, it would move 
straight forward, announcing its own principles and supporting its own 
candidates, claiming the support of members of other parties on patriotic 
grounds, and giving to such members as should accord that support just 
consideration. If a spirit like this could be infused into the Republican 
party, no Union party would be necessary, and no mere Union party could 
be successfully organized. Under the actually existing circumstances in 
Ohio, imperfectly known as they must be to me, I must leave to our friends 
on the spot the task and responsibility of organization. ... A Republican 
Con-vention and Republican nominations, giving recognition among the 
nominees to the patriotic Democratic element which sustains the Adminis- 
tration in its present position, are best." 

To Hiram Barney^ Collector of the Port of New Yorlv. 

" July 20, 1861. 

" . . . . Tou know my views — the public first, our friends next. So 
far as preferences can be legitimately given so as to aid those who, at con- 
siderable sacrifice of time, labor, and money, are engaged in upholding 
the principles we all deem vitally important to the welfare of the country, 
I think it a clear political duty that they should be given. But no public 
interest should be sacrificed, no public duty should be neglected, for any 
personal or party considerations. . . ." 

To General John G. Fremont. 

"Augmt 4, 1861. 

" .... I had before responded promptly, though, in the present con- 
dition of the Treasury, not without difficulty, to your calls for money. 
The energy you are displaying is admirable, and excites the best hopes of 
the future fulfillment. I am very sanguine. Let me, however, take the 
privilege of a friend, as well as perform the duty of a Secretar ( f the 



276 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Treasury, in urging you not to allow the pressure of your other cares to 
withdraw your attention from the expenditures of the army under your 
command and hi your department. This war must necessarily be an ex- 
pensive war, and there is great danger that, after a brief period, the 
people, in view of the magnitude of the burdens it is likely to entail, will 
refuse their support to the measures necessary for its vigorous prosecution. 
Already, the disgust caused by fraud or exorbitance in contracts, and by 
the improvidence of quartermasters and commissaries, is beginning to show 
itself What is needed is, to satisfy the people that neither time nor 
means will be needlessly wasted. They ask prompt and vigorous action, 
and all practicable economy. . . ." 

To M. D. Potter^ Esq., Cincinnati. 

"August 22, IBGl. 

" .... I have always urged action — accepting every man who could 
be put to real service, and expending every dollar for which a dollar's 
worth could be shown in results. I never have wanted paper regiments 
nor paper colonels, and I don't want them now. Active men and useful 
employment of means are what we need. . . ." 

To the Hon. Garrett Davis, of KentucTcy. 

'' August U,im\. 

" . . . . Let me assure you that the confidence you express in me 
moves me deeply. That I have been much misunderstood is not at all 
surprising. It has not been easy to distinguish between constitutional op- 
position to that slave-power which struck at Clay, and struck down Ben- 
ton, and now organizes rebellion, and that abolitionism which msisted on 
immediate and unconditional emancipation, without much regard to 
means or consequences. I have wished to see popular government vindi- 
cate and recommend itself by its demonstrated capacity to probe and 
redress so great an evil as slavery — first, by the constitutional action of 
the national Government within its appropriate sphere, and then by the 
unconstrained action of the States within their several jurisdictions. I do 
not absolutely despair of the accomplishment of that wish ; though I 
cannot shut my eyes to the possibility that, as extremes often meet, so 
now the madness of slavery propagandism, organized in rebellion, is 
likely to accomplish the purposes of abolitionism, pure and simple. 

" But enough of this ; yet rest assured of one thing. If I ever enter- 
tained an unfriendly thought toward Kentucky or Kentuckians, the wise 
and noble conduct of those who have brought her thus far safely through 
the fever of the time, loyal to the Union, and faithful to the glorious old 
flag we all so dearly love, would have banished that thought, and left no 
sentiment in my heart save one of fervent affection for the men who have 
accomplished this great work, prompting me to zealous efforts to fulfill 
all their wishes, so far as my ability allows. . . ." 



LETTERS AND EXTRACTS. 277 

To August Belmont^ Neio Tori: 

" Septemier 13, 18G1. 

" .... I am obliged for your letter of the loth August. It is much 
to be regretted that such a statesman as Palmerston should take such lim- 
ited views of the American question as were indicated in the conversation 
wdtli you. Had England manifested a national sympathy with the United 
States in the present rebellion, the growing friendship of the Americans 
for the British branch of the Anglo-Saxon family, stimulated by the visit 
of the Prince, would have ripened, I think, into permanent attachment 
and concord. What Providence will bring forth out of the unfortunate 
alienation, occasioned by the course of the British Government, it is diffi- 
cult now to foresee. It is the part of wise statesmanship, however, to 
mitigate — not to stimulate — the exasperation. 

" .... So far my negotiations and arrangements for money have been 
very fair successes. The national loan, in spite of all the disadvantages of 
our circumstances, is working well. If I had an Emperor Napoleon to 
sustain me, and subordinates held sufficiently responsible throughout the 
country to carry out my plans, the loan would be taken in this country 
with as much empressement as in France. But thiuk of the necessity of 
selecting, appointing, and taking bonds from hundreds of agents for sub- 
scription, and that, too, with most inadequate means of information as to 
character, adaptedness, and responsibility ! I have, however, made ap- 
pointments in all the States which remain loyal, including Virginia and 
Kentucky, except loAva, Minnesota, Kansas, and Oregon, I shall make 
appointments also in these, more for the name of doing it than from 
expectation of considerable returns. Subscriptions come in quite satis- 
factorily. My impression is that the associated banks will be so far 
reimbursed the first fifty millions taken by them that they will be able to 
advance the next fifty millions without difficulty. Indeed, I am confident 
that, if expenditure can be restricted within reasonable limits, the whole 
Sums needed can be supplied in the country. Under these circumstances, 
the condition of the foreign market possesses less interest than it would in 
a different condition of afi'airs. Still, I should be strongly inclined to take 
ten, or even twenty, millions sterling foreign capital, if it cquld bo had 
without solicitation at say six per cent. . . /' 

To Hon. Simeon JVasTi, GalUjJolis, OMo. 

" September 26, 1861. 
" .... Is it your opinion that the best way to serve the country is to 
disregard the laws without a justifying emergency ? When Congress had 
the distinct question of confiscating the property of rebels, and emancipat- 
ing the slaves, under consideration, at a session held only two months ago, 
and passed an act limiting that confiscation and emancipation to property 
and slaves actually employed in the rebellion, or provided for it, do you 
think that the President, or a commanding general, has a right to disre- 



278 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

gard the dccisiou of Congress thus distinctly made ? Assuming such dis- 
regard, how remote do you think we would be from a military despotism ? 
If a commanding general evinces this disregard, and if the President dis- 
approves it, shall there be a party for the general and against the Presi- 
dent ? Is a commanding general, who, by i)roclamation, gives occasion for 
such a division, the embodiment of patriotism ? 

" I have seen no suggestions or suspicions that aspirations for the presi- 
dency influenced the conduct of public men in this crisis, which have not 
emanated from St, Louis. Those who impute such motives are not the 
least likely to be influenced by them. 

" Whether we shall be forced to a depreciated currency, or not, cannot 
now be foreseen. It will come when the Government receives the paper of 
the banks, for then it will have to pay in such paper. The result will be 
the disappearance of coin, and universal suspension. So long as the Gov- 
ernment is able to confine its transactions to coin, and its own notes redeem- 
able in coin, we shall be comparatively safe. At any rate, until Congress 
shall decide otherwise, I must execute the law as it exists, and receive and 
pay out only coin and Government notes. In so doing, I shall endeavor 
to occasion as little inconvenience as possible. 

" If proof can be furnished that any oflScers of my department have 
sold gold for paper, and then paid the paper for dues, they shall be promptly 
dismissed. For frauds in the other departments I am not responsible, be- 
yond the use of my best endeavors to induce energetic repression. These 
endeavors I have constantly used, and shall continue to do so. I shall call 
the attention of the War Department particularly to your statement in re- 
lation to the transportation of soldiers, where you say the Government 
paid $3, while the boat got but $1.50. ..." 



To John G. Hamilton, New York. 

" OeloUr 1, 1861. 

" . . . . You see whom I would fain emulate if I might. When the 
engraver desired to place my face on the^^es of the United States notes, 
I said : ' No ; let the people renew their recollection of the first Secretary 
of the Treasury.' So I have been instrumental in giving renewed cur- 
rency to features whose spirit animates, as your own great work shows, our 
Constitution, our institutions, and our history." 



To Joseijyh Medill, of Chicago. 

" October 16, 1861. 

" .... It has been plain to me from the beginning that gold-notes of 
the United States, promptly and honestly redeemed, would have little 
chance in competition with notes of less value, so long as these less valu- 
able notes should be tolerated by the people as currency. For this reason, 
and also because I thought that bank circulation, paying no interest, 



LETTERS AND EXTRACTS. 279 

should at least contribute sometliing to the national burdens, I recom- 
mended to Congress, in my report, an internal duty on bank-notes. A 
majority in Congress were, I think, in favor of the tax ; but some Eepre- 
sentatives of great influence, largely interested in banking institutions, ob- 
jected, and their objections prevailed. 

"The subject must necessarily attract the attention of the country. 

" For myself, I never have entertained a doubt that it was the duty of 
the General Government to furnish a national currency. Its neglect of this 
duty has cost the people as much as this war will cost them. It must now 
be performed, not merely as a duty, but as a matter of necessary policy." 



To B. B. Warden^ of Ohio. 4 

"iV^oseOT&er 6,1861. 

" . . . . Let me thank you for your admirable article. It teaches a 
necessary lesson. "We must imitate the grand patience of God ; yet, in 
doing so, let us not shrink from the imitation of his justice and constant 
energy also." 

To Eon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 

"ir(we7n6er27,1861. 

" . . . . The period has arrived when it becomes my duty, as the 
financial minister of the Administration, to lay before Congress and the 
country a statement of our financial condition. In this statement, as you 
are aware, I must submit plans to Congress for meeting any deficiency in 
revenues consequent upon excessive expenditures. 

" At the meeting of Congress, at the extra session in July, with a full 
knowledge on the part of the Administration of the magnitude of the re- 
bellion, the requirements of .the War Department indicated an expenditure 
upon the basis of 250,000 men. Congress promptly responded, by making 
the required appropriations, coupled with discretionary authority con- 
ferred upon the President for the raising of 500,000 men, if in his judg- 
ment such numbers would be required. 

" Inasmuch as 250,000 men were all that were deemed requisite to meet 
any force that might be sent against us (having, in addition thereto, an 
almost unrestricted authority to increase the naval power), the appropria- 
tions made for carrying on the war were restricted to the sums asked for 
upon that basis, and authority was given to the Secretary of the Treasury 
to negotiate loans equal to any supposed deficiency in the revenues. Keep- 
ing constantly in view the restrictions of law by which I have been sur- 
rounded, and the large discretion reposed by Congress in the President, I 
have from time to time, as you are well aware, urged upon the various 
members of the Administration the absolute necessity for a more system- 
atic exercise of the discretion given in calling additional troops into the 
field beyond the numbers provided for in the appropriations, and that such 
excess of numbers should only be called for after a clearly- defined neces- 



280 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sity was shown. In my judgment, the assumption of responsibility, with- 
out warrant of law, should only be exercised in the direst emergency. . . 

" This communication is submitted to you in consequence of the diffi- 
culties which present themselves in raising the enormous sums which the 
estimates of the War Department in their present form would require. 
There appears to be by these estimates, received on Saturday last, 700,000 
troops in the field, and 100,000 employes in addition. The full discretion 
given to the President was exhausted when 500,000 men were called out. 
Where these 700,000 men are, can any one tell ? The Armies of the Poto- 
mac, of Western Virginia, of Kentucky, and of Missouri, do not in all 
embrace more than half this number, 
p/ " I beg you to bear in mind that I have repeatedly and earnestly con- 

demned the loose and unsystematic manner in which authority has been 
given to irresponsible individuals, all over the country, to raise troops, ex- 
pend money, and involve the Government in debt. The reason for giving 
such authority, so far as I have been able to ascertain, has been principally 
the desire to gratify applicants, without regard to any specific purposes to 
which the troops so raised were to be devoted, I have at all times, and 
upon all proper occasions, protested against giving military commissions 
to men known and acknowledged to be ignorant of military afl"airs. I 
have repeatedly urged that all the action of the President and the War 
Department should be made matters of record, and that the aggregate of 
authorities given should be kept at least within the limit of the very 
liberal discretion confided in the President. . . . 

"The amount of money which it is proposed to submit to Congress as 
necessary to meet the demands of the Government for the remainder of 
the present and for the next fiscal year, in addition to the existing public 
debt, is about $1,050,000,000. The receipts from customs, revenues and direct 
taxes, under present laws, can hardly exceed $120,000,000, leaving $930,000,- 
000 to be provided for by loans. I feel that I must decline to submit esti- 
mates based upon mere conjecture, the aggregate of which will, in the 
absence, comparatively, of results, carry conviction to the minds of the 
peoj)le of an entire want of system in the management of our military 
affairs, . . . The want of success of our armies, and the difficulties of our 
financial operations, have not been in consequence of a want or excess 
of men, but for want of systematic administration. If the lack of econ- 
omy, and the absence of accountability, are allowed to prevail in the 
future as in the past, bankruptcy, and the success of the rebellion, will be 
necessary consequences. ... It is not and has not been my purpose to ob- 
ject in any manner to the raising of sufficient troops and the furnishing 
of needed supplies ; but I have heretofore objected, and do now object, to 
rendering the Treasury of the United States liable for one thousand mill- 
ions of dollars, in addition to already existing debt, when by proper 
system and proper economy the same results can be attained by an expen- 
diture of half the sum. 



LETTERS AND EXTRACTS. 281 

*' I have, therefore, deemed it my duty to return the estimates sub- 
mitted by the War Department, and to decline to submit them, untU they 
are subjected to a more rigid scrutiny, and a reasonably satisfactory expla- 
nation given for exceeding the discretionary authority given by Congress. 

" The peojile, individually and collectively, have generously responded 
to every demand of the Government, trusting to its integrity and ability 
fully to protect them and their interests. They will, I hope, hold us all 
to a rigid accountability for our exercise of the authority given to us. I 
cannot consent, by the transmission of such estimates as those presented 
to me, to seem to sanction and participate in a disregard of the qualities 
they justly demand of us." 

2^19 Murat Halstead, Cincinnati. 

" December 25, 1861. 

" . . . . You are unjust to Cameron, and I am bound as a man of honor 
to say so. I have seen him closely as most men here, and I am sure he 
has acted honorably and faithfully and patriotically. If he had been left 
to administer his own department, without interference and with only the 
support and aid which he himself desired, I am confident there would 
have been comparatively little complaint. He challenges investigation of 
all his transactions on the score of corruption, and may do so, I believe, 
with entire safety. 

" This I say of him because I think I ought. He is fiercely assailed, 
and I should think myself mean if I shrunk from saying what I believe 
to be true, because of the clamor. If he were my enemy I ought to speak 
the truth in his behalf, and the obligation is not the less imperative, be- 
cause he, more than any other man here, has always acted toward me the 
part of a frank, manly, and generous friend." 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

CONDITION OF THE STATE BANKS IN 1861 CHAEACTEK OF THE 

STATE -BANK CIRCULATION AT THE DATE — BEIEF ACCOUNT OF 
THE STATE BANKS (nOTe) ME. CHASE EEC0MMEND8 THE NA- 
TIONAL BANKING- SYSTEM — EXTEACTS FEOM HIS EEPOET, DE- 

CEMBEEj 1861 ^NATIONAL BANKING BILL INTEODUCED EST HOUSE 

OF EEPEESENTATIYES, BY ME. HOOPEE, OF MASSACHUSETTS. 

THE principal currency of the country in 1861, at tlie be- 
ginning of the war, was a paper one supplied by sixteen 
hundi'ed banks organized and doing business under as many dif- 
ferent laws as there were States, and in some particulars at least 
differing widely. Their aggregated capitals amounted to four 
hundred and thirty millions of dollars ; their circulation was two 
hundred and ten millions ; theu* deposits two hundred and fifty- 
eight millions, and their other liabilities about one hundred and 
twenty-five millions. Total, one thousand and fifteen millions 
of dollars. Their resources were : Loans and discounts, six 
hundred and ninety-six milHons; cash, eighty-seven millions 
($87,671,507) ; stocks, seventy-four millions ; and other property 
sufficient to make up the required aggregate of one thousand 
and fifteen millions of dollars. 

Their instant liabilities — circulation, deposits, and dues to 
other banks — were five hundred and twenty millions of dollars. 
Their means, immediately available, were one hundred and 
ninety-seven millions — comprised in cash, cash items, circulating 
notes, and debts due from other banks. 

Of the whole banking capital about one hundred and ten 
millions were in the seceding States, and fifty millions of the 



CHARACTER OF STATE-BANK CIRCULATION. 283 

circulation. Of the deposits about forty millions were held by 
the same banks. Of the loans and discounts five hundred and 
fifty millions were those of the banks in the adhering States, 
and they held more than seventy millions of the whole supply 
of cash. 

The cash held by the national Government in the Treasury 
and depositories was $3,600,000 ; this, with that held by the 
banks, made a total of ninety-one millions, and f oiTQed the basis 
of the cmTency. 

What the whole sum of the coin in the country was at that 
time is of course conjectural ; it was variously stated, the esti- 
mates ranging from $100,000,000 to $700,000,000. The ex- 
treme probability is that it did not exceed two hundred mill- 
ions;* a safer estimate would no doubt be $150,000,000. De- 
ducting the smn held by the Government and the banks, and 
adding the remainder (estimating the whole sum at $200,000,000) 
to the paper circulation, and the total cm'rency of the country 
was three hundred and eleven millions of dollars. 

It was early realized that the expenditures of the war were 
certain to be very large ; Congress, at its extra session in July, 
1861, manifested a partial sense of their magnitude by voting 
for the support of the Government four hundred millions of dol- 
lars — a sum ahnost equivalent to the whole banking capital of 
the countiy, and many milKons more than that of the banks in 
the Federal States. The private discounts of these banks, too, 
long before the rebellion began, were largely in excess of their 
capital. 

It is not impossible that these State institutions might have 
been useful as auxiliaries to the financial measures of the Gov- 
ernment, but, as a chief reliance in the varying fortunes of a 
great war, they were clearly inadequate. They were located at 
widely-separated places; they were managed by men of every 
shade of political opinions ; their capitals varied largely ; they 
were bound by no common public purpose and were subject to 
no common direction — indeed, they responded very doubtfully 

1 This is the estimate of Mr. George Walker. Mr. Chase estimated it at 
$210,000,000. Secretary MeCulloch estimated it at $100,000,000, and there 
were " financiers " who fixed the sum at $500,000,000 to $700,000,000. If any 
thing, $150,000,000 was excessive. X, 



284: LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

even to the current business, as was testified by tlie frequent 
convulsions wliicb disturbed the commerce and industry of tlie 
country in its length and breadth. The circulation they furnished 
was unreliable ; while the credit of some of the banks was good, 
that of others was doubtful, and in some cases bad. It was at 
all times inconvenient, because so various in feature as to require 
constant reference to " The Detector " to guard against loss by 
counterfeits ; and most of it was subject to greater or less dis- 
counts as it was near or far from the place of issue. Accord- 
ing to a statement made by Mr. Benton in the United States 
Senate in 1836, the number of banks then doing business in the 
several States of the Union and the District of Columbia, was 
about Y50 ; and there were in circulation in June of that year 
818 counterfeits, of which Y56 were of ^10 and under, and 62 
of $20 and upward. There were in circulation at the same time 
181 counterfeits of the notes of the United States Bank and its 
branches — total counterfeits, 991 ; and these were exclusive of 
broken-bank notes, of imitations and alterations. Time worked 
no improvement ; but rather, the evil increased with the growth 
of the country. Official reports in eighteen different States in 
1860 showed 140 banlvs broken, 234 closed, and 131 worthless. 
Such was the condition of 505 banks ; the whole number in the 
eighteen States being 1,231. Between 1856 and 1862 the notes 
of over 1,200 banks were counterfeited or altered. There were 
in existence in the latter year over 3,000 kinds of altered notes ; 
IjYOO varieties of spurious notes; 460 varieties of imitations; 
over TOO of other kinds — there being more than seven thousand 
various kinds of genuine bills in circulation, some executed by 
good artists and others indifferently. The following table is from 
reliable data as to the two years 1856 and 1862 : 

1S56. 1862. 

TVliole number of banks 1,409 1,500 

Number whose notes were not counterfeited 463 253 

Number of kinds of imitations 1,462 1,861 

Number of kinds of alterations 1,119 3,039 

Number of kinds of spurious 224 1,685 

It is almost impossible to realize, after our experience with 
the "war currency," how the American people — im23atient and 
critical — ^bore so long with a circul ition requiring such constant 



THE STATE-BANK SYSTEM. 285 

watchfulness, and subjecting tliem to so mucli loss Loth of time 
and money, as did that of the State banks/ 

In December, 1861, in his first annual report to Congress, 
Mr. Chase called attention to the character of these institutions 

' A writer in the National Quarterly Review for June, 1865, gives the following 
succinct sketch of the State-bank system. It seems to me to be of sufficient interest 
and importance to be printed at this place in this book : 

"In 1790 there were but four banks in the Union, having an aggregate capital 
of $1,950,000; in 1804 there were fifty-nine banks in operation, with an aggregate 
capital of $39,500,000. 

" It is believed that but a small part of the capital of the State banks was paid 
up. The United States Bank was estabUshed in 1791, with a capital of $10,000,000, 
and its paid-up capital probably exceeded that of all the State banks together. It is 
known, also, that so lately as the year 1800 coin constituted the bulk of the cur- 
rency, bank-notes being rarely seen south of the Potomac or north of the Allegha- 
nies. 

"In the year 1808 the estimated specie in the country exceeded the amount of 
bank-notes in circulation. The return made to the Treasury by the United States 
Bank in that year gave its specie at $15,300,000, its circulating notes at $4,787,000; 
and another return made in 1810 did not materially vary in these respects. But the 
policy of the New England banks for some time previous to 1808 was widely dif- 
ferent. They commenced the expansion of their issues probably in 1803, and pushed 
it to the extreme limit of their credit, so that in 1808 and 1809 a grand explosion 
occurred, by which most of them were damaged and some of them totally destroyed. 

"The abundance of specie existing before the year 1808 is accounted for by the 
long continuance of the wars in Europe between the maritime nations, which threw 
the carrying trade of the South American mines into our hands. In that year Napo- 
leon invaded Spain ; England became her ally and protector, and the long-interrupted 
direct trade between England and the Spanish colonies in America was resumed. 
At the same time our embargo law, followed by the act of non-intercourse, and finally 
by war with England, from June, 1812, till December, 1814, prevented the export of 
United States produce to foreign countries, and drained away the precious metals 
after the accidental supply had been cut off. The resulting scarcity of coin, and the 
increased demand for currency required by the exigencies of the war, were, as is well 
known, supplied by an excessive issue of bank-notes, which was followed by a sus- 
pension of specie payments by all the banks south of New England in September, 
1814. The check of redemption removed, the expansion went on, and seems only 
to have been accelerated by the proclamation of peace in February, 1815. The bank 
issues, estimated at thirty millions in 1811, before the war, and at forty-seven mill- 
ions about the time of the general suspension of specie payments, are put by Mr. 
Gallatin at seventy millions in 1816, and by Mr. Crawford, with probably a close ap- 
proximation to the truth, at ninety-nine millions. 

" An inflation so prodigious occurring in time of peace and the consequently di- 
minished rapidity of business circulation were necessarily followed by a correspond- 
ingly heavy relapse. A population of not above nine millions, with a paper currency 
of eleven dollars per capita in their hands, or fully double the amount required by 
the condition of industry and trade, the whole mass resting upon a specie basis of 



386 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and the doubtfulness of their right — under the Constitution — to 
issue circulating notes. The whole of that circulation was a loan 
without interest from the people to the banks, costing the latter 
nothing but the expense of issue and redemption, and the interest 

about twenty millions, or one dollar for the redemption of five, could not escape a 
revulsion alike extensive and disastrous. The consequence was the most appalling 
distress which the country had ever seen, and which even to this day is without a 
parallel. The root of the evil was in the attempt of the Government to carry on an 
expensive war by loans of bank-credits and bank-notes, thereby making irredeemable 
paper a national currency, assisting in its circulation and encouraging its expansion. 
A national currency, such as our greenbacks or the notes of the national banks, based 
upon United States bonds, rests upon the faith and resources of the nation ; and, 
however much it may be temporarily depreciated, is yet redeemable. But a corpora- 
tion currency, resting only upon the debts of bankrupt borrowers, is utterly baseless, 
and its total excess is simply worthless. 

" The fluctuations in the amount of paper currency which led to and resulted 
from the great revulsion of this period, according to the estimates of Mr. Crawford, 
Secretary of the Treasury, in 1820, stood thus : 

" Bank-note circulation in 1811, $29,000,000 

" " " " 1813, $62,000,000 to 70,000,000 

" " " " 1815, 99,000,000 to 110,000,000 

" » " " 1819, 45,000,000 to 53,000,000 

" Taking the lowest figures in these estimates they would give a per capita circu- 
lation in 1811 — before the war — of $3.87; in 1813, before the suspension of specie 
payments, $7.72; in 1815, at the close of the war, $10.58; in 1819, immediately 
after the general bank crash, $4.81. But it is well known that during the year 1816 
the banks continued to issue abundantly, and that floods of unchartered currency 
besides were poured out in notes of all denominations, from six cents up to five and 
ten dollars. The bank-note reporters of the time give lists of notes in circulation by 
chartered and unchartered companies and individuals about equally numerous. 
After the 20th of February, 1817, Congress prohibited the receipt of inconvertible 
paper in payment of public dues. About the middle of 1818 the contraction began, 
and at the end of 1819 the banks had settled into what JViles^s Register calls ' a 
state of regularity ; ' meaning that the survivors had reduced their circulation to such 
an extent that, for the purpose of remittance, their notes or drafts on the metropoli- 
tan banks were worth a fraction more than silver coin, which was itself very scarce, 
owing to the preparation then making by the Bank of England, and the imports of 
specie by Austria and Prussia, for the replacement of their paper currencies with 
specie. At this time lands in the interior and agricultural products were for sale at 
one-third the price they commanded when the unusual indebtedness of the people 
was made, and at half the prices readily obtained in 1808-'10. 

"In the period 1820 to 1830 the increase of banks and of paper money was not 
in the aggregate considerable, but the conduct of many of these ungovernable insti- 
tutions was such that in the decade several ruinous fluctuations occurred in diSerent 
districts of the country. We have no statement of the condition of the banks and 
the amount of currency afloat during this term, but we know that the years 1826-28 



BRIEF ACCOUNT OF STATE BANKS. 287 

on tlie specie kept for the latter purpose. He suggested the 
sound policy of transferring the advantages of that loan, in part 
at least, from the banks representing only the interests of the 
stockholders, to the Government representing the aggregate in- 

were marked by convulsiong of the banks of New York, Georgia, South Carolina, 
North Carolina, and Rhode Island, with heavy failures among the manufacturers of 
New England, with wide-spread distress, insolvency, and litigation all over the coun- 
try. All of which means not, perhaps, excessive issues' of bank currency, but a general 
and disastrous disturbance of monetary affairs, which neither the State banks nor 
the United States Bank, then in full operation, with its capital of thirty -five millions 
and its credit worth still more, was able to remedy. 

"Mr. Gallatin puts the circulation of 1830 at sixty-one millions, a per capita 
average of $4. 74, something too small, perhaps, for the demands of business ; but 
the paper money of this date was helped by a considerable excess of imports over 
the exports of specie in the two preceding years, amounting to above eight and a half 
millions of dollars ; the great increase of the home supply of manufactures, protected 
by the high tariff of 1828, and the reduction of the exports of specie to China and the 
East Indies by the use of bills drawn by the United States Bank on England for the ac- 
commodation of our merchants, which temporarily deferred the export of specie. 

" But in the ensuing six years the banks went wild again. Catching the earliest 
hopes of reviving prosperity, they extended their issues from sixty-one millions in 
1830 to one hundred and forty-nine millions in 183Y. Their specie, in the mean 
time, increased but sixteen millions (from twenty-two to thirty-eight millions). The 
average circulation for this year of enormous expansion affords $9.52 per capUa, 
while that of Great Britain and Ireland in the same year stood at $6.47. It stood at 
thirty-two cents per head above that of England and Wales, with their twofold an- 
nual products of industry at that date, and correspondingly larger requirements of 
currency. The consequence was a suspensioij of payments by all the banks, includ- 
ing the mammoth United States Bank, in May, 183Y, as if by common consent. 
During the residue of the year specie bore a premium at Philadelphia of various rates 
up to twelve per cent., and the bank paper of the different States was at various and 
fluctuating rates of discount ; in some instances as high as twenty per cent. — not in 
specie, but in the paper of the Philadelphia banks. 

" Favored by an excess of imports of specie over exports in the two years ending 
September 30, 1838, amounting to nearly twenty millions, the banks of New York 
and New England resumed specie payments in May, 1838. The banks of Philadel- 
phia made three resumptions and as many suspensions before February, 1841, and 
did not effectively resume until March, 1842. The notes of the banks to the south 
and west of New York were at various rates of discount — one, five, ten, fifteen, and 
even eighty per cent. ; and specie at various rates of premium up to fourteen per 
cent., as measured in Philadelphia, which was at the time inconvertible. The re- 
action of this monetary crash is shown, as that of 1819, by the fact that the circula- 
tion, which amounted to one hundred and forty-nine millions in 1837, was reduced 
in 1843 to fifty-eight millions — an average per capita of the population of $3.06 as 
against $9.52 in 1837. This is fluctuation with a vengeance ! 

" The next general explosion of our paper-money system occurred nine years 
after the California gold-mines were fairly opened. From July 1, 1848, to July 1, 



388 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

terests of tiie whole people. It was too clear to be disputed, at 
any rate, that under the constitutional power of Congress to lay 
taxes, to regulate commerce and the value of the coin, it had 
ample authority to control the credit circulation. The time had 

1857, California had furnished to the Mint and branch mints $383,873,100, and the 
mines of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, 
and New Mexico had yielded $4,514,469, in gold. The silver of domestic production 
deposited at the Mint and branches amounted to $2,630,055, making together a grand 
total of $391,017,624. The total silver coinage amounted to $33,621,148. What 
part of this sum was an actual, addition to the silver in circulation we do not now 
stop to determine. According to the custom-house returns, the exports of coin and 
bullion in these nine years exceeded the imports $271,400,133. Here we have some 
basis for an estimate of the increase of specie in the country in this period. The 
Secretary of the Treasury, in December, 1857, estimated it at one hundred and forty 
millions. He believed the amount in 1849 to be one hundred and twenty-nine mill- 
ions, and in 1857 two hundred and sixty millions. The data given would afford this 
sum, if to the gold from our mines we add twenty millions of the total silver coinage 
as a probable addition to the circulation, and assume that the residue was but the 
recoinage of foreign silver money previously making part of our currency. This 
calculation, however, assumes that our stock of coins increases or decreases annu- 
ally, as the amount imported and received from our own mines exceeds or falls short 
of the amount exported ; and it further assumes that the gold and silver brought in 
by immigrants and others and not reported, and that entering overland from Mexico, 
would balance the amoimts clandestinely exported, as well as the amount consumed 
in manufactures and the annual loss by abrasion. 

" But if the increase had been double the estimated amount, the banks would 
very certainly have extended their issues and credits in proportion. Their reserve 
of specie had increased but seventeen millions, and they had added one hundred 
millions to the one hundred and fourteen and three-quarter millions of their circu- 
lating paper out in 1849, and expanded their loans and discounts from three hundred 
and thirty-two and a third millions to six hundred and eighty-four and a half mill- 
ions. In September and October they suspended specie payments, and in about 
three months contracted their circulation from two hundred and fifteen to one hun- 
dred and fifty-five millions, and reduced their loans to five hundred and eighty-three 
millions ; a reduction of the former of twenty-eight and a half per cent., which was 
followed by a general fall of prices during the twelve months ensuing, averaging 
twenty-five per cent. The solvent banks resumed specie payments early in 1858, 
after creating such stringency in the money market as so great a reduction of cur- 
rency and bank credits must necessarily occasion. Among the facts which marked 
the revulsion and showed its extent was tne diminished consumption of foreign mer- 
chandise. In the tw^elve months ending three months before the suspension, the 
foreign imports entered for consumption amounted to three hundred and thirty-seven 
millions ; in the twelve months immediately succeeding, they fell off to one hundred 
and ninety- three millions — the average consumption per capita falling from $11.81 
in the former year to $6.57 in the latter, a reduction of over forty-four per cent. 

" Enough has been said to exhibit fully the fluctuations of our bank issues in 
amount, the cost of exchange between the principal business marts of the coimtry, 



THE NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM. 289 

arrived when, in his judgment, Congress should exercise its au- 
thority in this direction. To effect the object two plans were 
suggested. The first contemplated the gradual withdrawal from 
circulation of the notes of the banks, and the issue in their stead 
of United States notes — payable in cash on demand — in amounts 
sufficient for the useful ends of a representative currency. The 
second contemplated the preparation and delivery, to institutions 
and associations, of notes prepared under national direction and 
to be secured, as to prompt convertibility into coin, by the pledfcge 
of United States bonds and other needful regulations. 

In commenting upon these plans, Mr. Chase said that the 
first was in part adopted when at its last session Congi'ess au- 
thorized the issue of United States notes payable in coin, to the 
amount of fifty milHons of dollars. This provision might be 
so extended as to reach the average circulation of the country, 
while a moderate tax on bank-notes — gradually augmented — 
would relieve the national from competition with local circula- 
tion. The substitution would be equivalent to a loan by the 
people to the Government without interest, except on the fund 
in coin to be kept for redemption, and the people would gain 
the advantage of a unifonn currency and relief from a consider- 
able burden in the form of interest on debt. These advantages 

the frequent convulsions in mercantile affairs, and the mischief wrought by the rapid 
inflations and reductions of market prices, marking the whole history of our State 
banking system. It must not, however, be inferred from the exclusion of other 
agencies in this brief historical notice, that the banks are to be regarded as the sole 
or primal causes of our business catastrophes. It would be easy to show that, in 
the groups of years covered by our monetary convulsions, the varying amounts of 
foreign imports for domestic consumption have borne a determinate ratio to the 
bank circulation, increasing and decreasing together. Not in exact proportion, in- 
deed, for in some years the bank circulation increased more than the imports, and in 
some, particularly at the times of the severest collapses, the bank circulation fell 
lower than the imports. But this variance is explained by the exigencies of the case, 
and an absolute dependence and reciprocity is weU proved. For certain reasons, it 
is probable that the excessive imports were always at the bottom of the mischief, but 
the bank inflations invariably answered like an echo and gavej;he mischief its effect 
by enlarging the credit system and stimulating speculative expansion of the banks 
till they bursted. It is for this fellowship in mischief with all speculative over- 
trading that they are here arraigned ; and for this offense the array of facts has been 
given ; for partners in crime are not the less culpable for being what lawyers call 
accessories after the fact, or merely secondary in point of time, but active in the con- 
spiracy and equally effective in participation." 

19 



290 LIFE- OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

were no doubt important, and if a scheme could be devised by 
wliicb such a circulation could be certainly and strictly confined 
within the real needs of the people, and kept constantly equiv- 
alent to cash by a prompt and certain conversion, it could 
hardly fail of legislative sanction. 

But this plan was not without serious inconveniences and 
hazards. In times of pressure and danger the temptation to 
issue notes without adequate provision for redemption ; the ever- 
prtsent liability to be called on for redemption beyond means, 
however carefully provided and managed ; the hazard of panics, 
precipitating demands for coin, concentrated on a few points 
and a single fund ; the risk of a depreciated, depreciating and 
finally worthless paper money; the immeasurable evils of a 
dishonored public faith and national bankruptcy — all these 
were possible consequences of a system of Government circula- 
tion. In his judgment these probable disasters so far out- 
weighed the probable benefits of the plan that he was con- 
strained to forbear recommending its adoption. 

He then considered the second of the suggested plans. Its 
principal features were : 1. A circulation of notes bearing a com- 
mon impression and authenticated by a common authority ; 2. 
The redemption of these notes by the associations and institu- 
tions to which they might be delivered ; and 3. The security of 
that redemption by the pledge of United States stocks and an 
adequate provision of specie. 

In support of this plan, Mr. Chase said that the people, in 
their ordinary business, would find in it the advantages of a 
uniformity in currency ; uniformity in security ; effectual safe- 
guard — if effectual safeguard is possible — against depreciation ; 
of protection from losses in discounts and exchanges ; while in 
the operations of Government the people would find the fur- 
ther advantage of a large demand for Government securities, of 
increased facilities for obtaining the loans required to carry on 
the war, and some alleviation of the burdens on industry 
through a diminution in the rate of interest and a participation 
in the profit of circulation without risking the perils of a great 
money monopoly. Another advantage might reasonably be ex- 
pected in the increased security of the Union, springing from 
the common interest in its preservation created by the distribu- 



EXTRACTS FROM REPORT. 291 

tion of its stocks to associations tlirougliout tlie country as the 
basis of tlieir circulation. 

Mr. Chase expressed the opinion that if a credit circulation 
in any form were desirable, it would be so in the one described. 
The notes so issued and secured would, in his judgment, be the 
best currency the country had enjoyed ; while their receivability 
for all Government dues — except customs — would make them, 
wherever payable, of equal value in every part of the Union. 
The large amount of specie in the country (Mr. Chase, basing 
his estimate upon that of the Director of the Mint dated Octo- 
ber 10, 1861, said it was not less than two hmidred and seventy- 
five millions of dollars, which was probably much beyond the 
actual sum) * would easily support payments of duties in coin, 
while those payments and the ordinary demands would aid in 
retaining the specie in the country as the sohd basis both of cir- 
culation and loans. 

The whole circulation of the country, except a limited 
amount of foreign coin, would, after the lapse of two or thi*ee 
years, bear the impress of the nation whether in coin or notes ; 
while the amount of the latter, always easily ascertainable and 
of course always generally known, would not be hkely to be 
increased beyond the real wants of business. 

Mr. Chase had great confidence in this plan, because, as he 
said, it was recommended by experience. In New York, and 
in one or more of the other States, its essential parts had been 
tested and found useful and practicable. The probabilities of 
its success would not be diminished but increased by its adop- 
tion mider national sanction and for the whole country. 

There was another consideration which, in his judgment, 
was entitled to much weight, and that was, that the plan very 
nearly — ^if it did not altogether — avoided the evils of a great and 
sudden change in the currency by offering inducements to sol- 
vent existing institutions to withdraw their circulation, issued 
under State a\ithority, and substitute that provided by the au- 
thority of the Union ; and so, through the voluntary action of 
the existing institutions, aided by wise legislation, the great tran- 
sition from a currency heterogeneous, unequal and unsafe, to one 

' A subsequent estimate made by Mr. Chase, upon very carefully considered 
data, placed the coin in the country at $210,000,000. 



293 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

uniform, equal and safe miglit be speedily and almost imper- 
ceptibly accomplished. 

Mr. Chase added that if he omitted to discuss the question 
of the constitutional power of Congress to put the pro]3osed 
plan into operation, it was because no argument was necessary 
to estabhsh the proposition that the power to regulate com- 
merce and the value of the coin included the power to regulate 
the currency of the country, or the collateral proposition that 
the power to effect the end includes the power to adopt the 
necessary and expedient means. He concluded by expressing a 
hope that the plan, if adopted with such safeguards as the wis- 
dom and experience of Congi'ess should suggest, would impart 
such stability and value to the Government securities as that it 
would not be difficult to obtain the additional loans required for 
the service of the current and succeeding years at fair and rea- 
sonable rates, especially if the public credit were supported by 
sufficient and certain provision for prompt payment of interest 
and ultimate redemption of the principal.' 

These views of Mr. Chase, when first expressed, found but 
little favor and less support in either House of Congress. A 
majority of both the Senate and House Financial Committees 
were incredulous or hostile. Mr. Hooper, of Massachusetts, alone 
gave them public approval, and it is noticeable that they were 
as vigorously opposed by friends of the Administration as by 
its enemies ; and the most that Mr. Hooper could succeed in 
doing at the time, was to obtain leave to bring in a bill authoriz- 
ing a system of national banking and to procure an order for 
printing it.** It was not pressed, however, during the session. 

1 Report December 9, 1861. 

* "Very few, when I submitted a plan for a national cun-ency to Congress, were 
prepared to accept it as either desirable or practicable. A majority of both the 
House and Senate Financial Committees were incredulous or hostile. Only Mr. 
Hooper of Massachusetts — a gentleman who sound judgment and large knowledge 
of financial subjects, gave great and deserved weight to his opinions — encouraged 
me by open support. Out of Congress, Robert J. Walker — distinguished by his 
brilliant administration of the Treasury, and by his great abiUty — gave the plan the 
sanction of his approval. Encouraged by such judgments, I was not daunted by 
the general opposition." — Mr. Chase to Mr. Trowbridge. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 

ME. CHASE RENEWS HIS EECOMMENDATIOjST OF A NATIONAL BANK- 
ING SYSTEM, DECEMBEE, 1862 — ^DEBATE UPON THE BILL IN 

HOUSE AND SENATE ^FINAL PASSAGE OF THE BILL, FEBEU- 

AEY 25, 1863 — PEINCIPAL FEATUEES OF THAT BILL — OEGANI- 

ZATION OF NATIONAL CUEEENGY BUEEAr AMENDATOEY ACT 

OF 1864 DISCUSSION IN CONGEESS — ^BANK OF COMMEECE 

ABSTEACT OF THE AMENDATOEY ACT OPEEATTON OF THE 

ACT TAXATION OF STATE BANKS — PEESENT CONDIIION OF 

THE NATIONAL BANKS. 

IK his second annual report, made December 4, 1862, Mr. 
Chase renewed liis recommendations of a system of banking 
associations and enforced tbem with additional arguments. He 
repeated the conviction expressed in his first report that while 
Government notes were preferable to the issues of State insti- 
tutions, a circulation furnished by Government and issued by 
banMng associations organized under a general act of Congress, 
was preferable to either. It would unite more elements of 
soundness and utility. While a circulation f uiTiished directly 
by the Government was recommended by two chief considera- 
tions — namely, 1. Facility of production in times of emergency, 
and 2. Cheapness — there were, on the other hand, four main and 
serious objections. These were : 1. Facility of excessive expan- 
sion when expenditure should exceed revenue; 2. Danger of 
lavish and corrupt expenditure stimulated by facility of expan- 
sion ; 3. Danger of fraud in management and supei'vision ; and 
4. The impossibility of supplying it in sufficient amounts for 
the wants of the people when expenditm-es are reduced to 



294 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

equality with the revenue or- below it. He declared the central 
idea of his jprojposed measure to he the establishment of one 
sound, uniform circulation, of equal value throughout the 
country, ujpon the foundation of national credit combined with 
private capital. The associations were to be voluntary, but as 
a bounty to prompt volunteering into this department of the 
public service, Mr. Chase — in a preceding paragraph of the 
report from which we are quoting — had recomnlended a mod- 
erate tax on circulation of the State banks as the best means 
of reducing their issues, and as an incentive to the substitution 
of national bank-notes. Such a tax, he said, could involve no 
hardship. There could be no sound reason for exempting from 
taxation that species of property which cost the proprietor least 
and produced him most. He proposed no interference with the 
Independent Treasury, but it seemed clear that the contemplated 
associations would be the best and safest depositories of the 
public revenues. He estimated that the associations would ab- 
sorb in a few years $250,000,000 of Government bonds. 

The proposed plan was recommended finally by the firm 
anchorage it would supply to the Union of the States. Every 
banking association whose bonds were deposited in the Treasury 
of the Union ; every individual who held a dollar of the cir- 
culation secured by such deposits ; every merchant, every manu- 
facturer, every fanner, every mechanic, interested in transac- 
tions dependent for success on the credit of circulation, would 
feel as an injmy every attempt to rend the national unity, with 
the permanence and stability of which all their interests are so 
closely and vitally connected. It was a public duty to extract 
good from evil whenever possible. And out of the public 
debt, never itself a good, this benefit might be extracted.* 

At the close of the second session of the Thirty-seventh 
Congress — as has been already observed — the measure so ear- 
nestly pressed by Mr. Chase was almost friendless. The banks 
were practically unanimous in their hostility to it, and it was 
viewed with keen suspicion by men of all shades of political 
opinions. The repression of the State bank issues and the sub- 
stitutio^i in their stead of the notes of associations organized 
■under authority of the General Government, were features es- 

1 Report, December 4, 1862. 



DEBATE ON THE BILL. 295 

pecially obnoxious ; tliey savored, as was imagined, not only of 
the United States Bank as a powerful money corporation, but 
also of its supposed dangerous political tendencies. But not- 
withstanding possible futm-e perils, the prospects of the measure 
had materially grown in the interval between the close of the 
second and the opening of the third session of the Thirty- 
seventh Congress, December 1, 1862. 

The bill authorizing the national banking associations was 
exhaustively debated in the Senate, and February 19, 1863, Mr. 
Collamer summed up the chief objections alleged against it. 
They were : 

That it proposed to tax the State banks out of existence. 
That it substituted for the thirteen or fourteen hundred banks 
doing business in what were called the loyal States at least three 
thousand and perhaps six thousand institutions entirely indepen- 
dent of the power of visitation by those States. That it re- 
moved from all forms of State taxation all the capital employed 
in local banking coi*porations ; thus interfering with the school 
funds of many of the States. That it made the Government 
responsible for the ultimate redemption of the circulation of the 
associations. That it put great political power into the hands 
of the Secretary of the Treasury. That it hired tlie banking 
associations to circulate three hundred millions of currency at a 
yearly expense of twelve millions of dollars in gold to the people, 
who were at last responsible for the circulation ; in short, that 
the people of the country would derive no benefit from the 
operations of the bill. And that — after all — the profits deriv- 
able to the banks would be too small. 

It was said by Mr. Sherman in reply to this that if one 
hundi'ed millions of the circulation of the State banks was 
withdrawn, the Government would reap the advantage at any 
rate of a market for one hundred millions of its stocks. And 
the creation of a demand for one hundred millions would, in 
pursuance of well-known and recognized laws of trade, excite 
a demand for five hundred millions. He thought the political 
power of the Secretary would rather be weakened than strength- 
ened by the operation of the proposed system. The powers 
conferred by the bill were more likely to make enemies than 
friends for the Secretary who exercised them. 



396 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Mr. Doolittle alleged that in his judgment tlie States, under 
tlie Constitution, had no right either to issue a paper circulation 
or -incorporate a company to do so ; and further, that gold and 
silver formed the sound constitutional currency. But the history 
of the country and decisions of the Supreme Court had gone the 
other way, with the practical effect of giving rise to jfif teen hun- 
dred banks created by State authority, and the currency in use 
was the irredeemable paper of those banks. As a practical fact 
the war must be carried on by paper money, and the Govern- 
ment must take the issues into its own hands. But while creating 
and issuing paper money, it would not do to allow the channels 
of circulation to be flooded by the State institutions; by per- 
mitting them to do so the Government would destroy itself. 

The vote in the Senate upon the bill was twenty-three for to 
twenty-one against, and in the House seventy-eight yeas to sixty- 
four nays. An analysis of these votes shows wliile but one 
Democratic Senator (Kesmith, of Oregon) voted for the bill, 
seven Republican Senators (CoUamer, Cowan, Dixon, Foot, 
Grimes, King, and Trumbull) voted against it. In the House 
the Democrats voting for the bill were two ; and the Republi- 
cans voting against it twenty-five. It became a law by the ap- 
proval of the President February 25, 1863.' 

The act contained sixty-five sections. The fii'st four related 
to the organization in the Treasury Department of an additional 
bureau, to be charged with the execution of the laws authorizing 
and regulating the issue of a national currency, the chief ofiicer 
of which was to be denominated the Controller of the Currency. 

The leading features of the act were these : 

It required at least thirty per cent, of the capital stock of as- 
sociations formed in pursuance of its provisions, to be paid in 
before beginning business, and the remainder in installments of 
ten per cent, of the whole capital subscribed at periods not 
farther apart than two months. The capital might be increased, 
but no increase to be valid until actually paid up. The liability 
of shareholders, for both circulation and deposits, extended not 

* At the time of the passage of this act the whole circulation in the loyal States 
was $16T,000,000. The State securities held for this amount were $40,000,000, 
leaving over $120,000,000 inadequately provided for. In only nine of the States did 
the law require the circulation to be secured by State bonds. 



LEADING FEATURES OF THE ACT. 297 

only to the amouiit actually invested in tlie shares, but to an ad- 
ditional sum equal to their par value. 

Preliminary to beginning business the association was re- 
quired to transfer and deliver to the United States Treasurer 
interest-bearing bonds of the United States in sum not less than 
one-third of the capital stock paid in, and thereupon to be en- 
titled to receive circulating notes of various denominations in 
blank — registered and countersigned, however — equal to ninety 
per cent, of the current value of the bonds, but not exceeding 
their par value if bearing interest at the rate of six per cent., or 
of equivalent United States bonds if bearing a less rate of in- 
terest ; but the aggi'egate of notes delivered at no time to exceed 
the amoimt of capital stock actually paid in. 

The whole amount of circulating notes authorized was 
$300,000,000 ; one hundred and fifty millions to be apportioned 
according to representative population, and a like sum according 
to the then existing banking capital, resources, and business 
of the States, Territories, and District of Columbia. 

In lieu of all other taxes upon the notes and the bonds 
pledged for their security, and to reimbm'se the expenses of pre- 
paring the circulating notes, a tax of two per cent, a year was 
levied upon the amount of the circulation of the association. On 
the other hand the notes were made receivable in payment of all 
dues to the United States except duties on imports, and payable 
in satisfaction of all demands against the United States except 
interest on the public debt. Post and other notes intended to 
circulate as money were prohibited. 

If the association failed to redeem its notes on demand in 
lawful money of the United States, they might be protested, and 
after protest the association was suspended from fm*ther pursuing 
its business, except to receive moneys belonging to it and to de- 
liver special deposits. If, however, it was legally restrained 
from paying its notes by order of court, no protest could be 
made. But in case of actual default, the Controller was re- 
quired — within thirty days after notice of the faihu-e — to de- 
clare the bonds pledged by the association to be forfeited. Its 
outstanding circulating notes were thereupon to be redeemed at 
the Treasmy of the United States, and bonds of the association 
equal at cm-rent rates, not exceeding par, to the amount of the 



298 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

notes redeemed, miglit be canceled, or sold at public auction 
m tbe city of New York, or at private sale under prescribed 
limitations. If any deficiency should exist relative to the sum 
of the notes redeemed and the bonds canceled or sold, the United 
States reserved a first and paramount lien upon all the assets of 
the association. 

Whenever bonds of the description of those pledged for the 
security of the notes of the association sold in the ITew York 
Stock Exchange * for a period of four consecutive weeks at a less 
rate than that at which they were estimated when pledged, pay- 
ment of interest upon them was to be suspended until the cur- 
rent market value of the bonds and the suspended interest added 
together, made the bonds equal to their value as estimated when 
pledged. Every three months the interest retained under this 
provision was to be invested in United States bonds in trust for 
the association ; but when the bonds in the ]S"ew York Stock 
Exchange rose again to the price at which they were estimated 
when pledged, and so remained for four consecutive weeks, the 
investment to be assigned to the association and the accruing 
interest paid to it. 

Stockholders, either individually or collectively, were pro- 
hibited from being at any time liable to the association, either 
as principal debtors or sureties or both, to an amount greater 
than three-fifths of the capital stock actually paid in and remain- 
ing imdiminished by losses or otherwise, nor could directors be- 
come so liable, except to such an amount and in such manner as 
might be prescribed in the by-laws. (Each director was required 
to own in his own right one per cent, of the capital where the 
whole capital did not exceed two hundred thousand dollars, and 
one-half of one per cent, if the capital was over two hundred 
thousand.) Shareholders were prohibited from transferring 
their shares so long as they Avere liable for any debt due and un- 
paid to the association, and dividends and profits due such share- 
holders could be applied by the association to the discharge of 
such liabilities. 

The association was prohibited making loans upon the secu- 
rity of its own capital stock. 

' By the act of June 3, 1864, the value of such bonds was made to depend, not 
upon their price in the New York Stock Exchange, but in the general market. 



LEADING FEATURES OF THE ACT. 299 

The association was required to have on hand at all times in 
lawful money of the United States a sum equal at least to twenty- 
five per cent, of the aggregate of its outstanding circulation and 
deposits, and whenever the deposits and outstanding circulation 
should exceed this proportion for a period of twelve days, it was 
prohibited from increasing its liabilities by making new loans or 
discounts, otherwise than by discounting or purchasing bills of 
exchange payable at sight, or making any dividend of profits, 
until the required proportion between the lawful money reserve 
and the circulation and deposits was restored. Clearing-house 
certificates representing specie or lawful money specially depos- 
ited for the purposes of a clearing-house association were to be 
deemed lawful money. Balances due from associations in Bos- 
ton, Providence, 'Hew York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, 
Chicago, St. Louis and New Orleans, to associations in other 
places, subject to be drawn for at sight and available to redeem 
their circulation and deposits, were also to be deemed lawful 
money to the extent of three-fifths of the lawful money reserve. 
With the concurrence of the Secretary of the Treasury the 
Controller of the Cun-ency was authorized to appoint a receiver 
to wind up the business of any association which should fail, 
within thirty days after notice, to make good the lawful money 
reserve where deficient. 

The association was prohibited from incun-ing debts or lia- 
bilities exceeding the capital stock actually paid in and undimin- 
ished by losses, except on account — 1. Of its circulating notes ; 
2. Of money deposited or collected by it ; 3. Of bills of exchange 
or drafts drawn against money actually on deposit to its credit 
or due to it ; and, 4. Of liabilities to its stockholders for money 
paid in on capital stock, and di"\ddends thereon and profits. The 
association was prohibited pledging or hypothecating directly or 
indirectly any of its circulating notes to procure money to be 
paid in on its capital stock, or to be used in its banking opera- 
tions or otherwise ; nor could there be withdrawn either in the 
form of dividends, loans to stockholders for a longer period than 
six months, or in any other manner, any portion of the capital. 
No dividends could be made where losses equaled undivided 
profits, and debts overdue six months were to be accounted bad. 

Interest could be charged at the legal rate in the State where 



300 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the association was located, and willfully taking or reserving 
more than the legal rate worked a forfeiture of the deht ; but to 
reserve the legal interest at the time of making the loan, " ac- 
cording to the usual rales of banking," was not to be deemed a 
violation of the act. 

The liabilities of the association on any one account at any 
one time could not exceed one-third — exclusive of liabilities as 
acceptor one-fifth, and exclusive of liabilities on hona-fide bills 
of exchange payable out of the State, one-tenth of the capital 
stock actually paid in. 

All transfers, assignments, and deposits, made by insolvent 
associations or in contemplation of an act of insolvency, for the 
benefit of shareholders or for the preference of creditors, were 
declared to be null and void. 'Eov could any association pay out 
or put into circulation the notes of any bank or banking associa- 
tion which should not be receivable at the time at par on de- 
posit or in payment of debts due the association paying out or 
circulating them ; nor could it circulate the notes of any associa- 
tion which at the time did not redeem its notes in lawful money 
of the United States. 

A semi-annual report, under oath of the cashier, was required 
to be made to the Controller of the Currency. Without here 
going into the details required to be exhibited in this statement, 
it is enough to observe that it is thoroughly exhaustive of the 
affairs of the association and of the amounts and circumstances 
of its liabiHties and resources. 

The Secretary was authorized to make the associations deposi- 
tories of pubhc moneys (except receipts from customs). 

Ample provision was made against evasions and violations of 
the act by associations, against counterfeiting the circulating 
notes and against their mutilation, and for examination into the 
affairs of the associations when such examination seemed to be 
required by the public interest. 

And finally, provision was made for the conversion of State 
banks into national associations. 

The privileges of the act were to continue for a period of 
twenty years from the time of its passage, though Congress re- 
served the important right of modifying or altogether repeal- 
ing it. 



THE NATIONAL. CURRENCY BUREAU. 301 

The IS^ational Currency Bureau was organized so soon as was 
practicable, and Mr. Cliase iu his next report to Congress — De- 
cember 10, 1863 — ascribed to the operation of the act important 
and salutary effects. It materially aided in a prompt revival of 
the public credit, and in procuring funds for liquidating cm-rent 
demands against Government, and especially for paying the large 
arrears due to the army and navy. The number of associations or- 
ganized up to that time was one hundred and thirty-four — chiefly 
in the West — with capitals aggregating $16,081,200. Some em- 
barrassment was experienced in the conversion of State banks ; 
and to remedy tliis and other defects which a year's experience 
in the practical working of the act had developed, it was re 
modeled during the first session of the TMrty-eighth Congress. 
The object in remodeling was declared to be " to offer every fa 
cility to the State banks to organize under the law, to encourage 
banking upon sounder principles, to render it more secure for 
stockholders, and more beneficial to the people of the whole 
countiy." ^ 

Public sentiment in relation to the national banking system 
had undergone a marked change in the interval between the pas- 
sage of the act of 1863 and the period at which the discussion of 
the act of 1864 began. It had so grown in the general favor, 
that the Republican party if not actually was substantially a unit 
in its support. 

The debate upon the amendatory act was exhaustive and de- V 
veloped all the objections that could justly be alleged against the ' 
system. It was charged — 

1. That it inflated the currency and raised prices. "The 
enormous expansion is seen and felt on all sides," said Mr. 
Brooks, of ]^ew York. " ISTo fact showed more significantly the 
gigantic increase in the exchanges and currency than the reports 
of the Kew York Clearing-House. The average daily clearances 
for the ten years prior to the close of 1861 had been $22,000,000, 
while at the date of his speaking they averaged $115,000,000, 
and on one late day they had reached the enormous sum of 
$146,000,000 ! The consequence was the revelry and intoxica- 
tion of speculators, and a spectacle not exhibited on the earth 
since the days of John Law," He presented some statistics to 

' Mr. Hooper, House of Representatives, March 23, 1864. 



303 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sliow tlie increase in prices. He alleged the average increase in 
thirteen articles of prime necessity (flom*, oats, corn, coffee, gun- 
powder, iron, lead, pork, beef, butter, salt, soap, teas) to be, be- 
tween December, 1860, and December, 1863, equal to an average 
rise of 63|- per cent.' 

It could not be denied that there had been a large increase in 
the prices of almost all commodities, though it was not so great 
as was alleged by Mr. Brooks. 

2. That it provided for an irredeemable currency. It was 
alleged that the war could have been carried on by the instru- 
mentality of the State banks upon a hard-money basis." To this 
it was answered, that it was the action of the State banks of the 
city of !N'ew York in suspending ^ specie payments in December, 
1861, that constrained the suspension of the banks throughout 
the country and of the United States Treasury. "Wlien the na- 
tional currency system was first adopted it was opposed, as though 
it were a .question which of two cuiTencies, coin or paper, the 
Government would adopt. A coin circulation was not possible. 
The Government could only choose between two paper curren- 
cies : one furnished by the State banks, liable to be extended 
almost indefinitely by Government use of it and controlled by 
the banks entirely for their own profit ; or one furnished by the 
Government under its own direction and control, secured by the 
pledged faith of the nation, and the profits of which should ac- 
crue to the benefit of the whole people of the^cpuntry.* In sup- 
port of the charge that the State banks would have increased 
their issues indefinitely, was cited the example of twenty-five 
State institutions (taken from ofiicial reports) located in six dif- 
ferent States : six in ISTew York ; one in Kew Jersey ; thirteen 
in Pennsylvania; one in Delaware; one in Indiana; three in 
Ohio. The aggregate capital of these several banks amounted 
to $1,932,968 and their circulation to five millions nine hundred 
and ninety-eight thousand and eighty-eight dollars I One of 
them — the Bellinger Bank, of New York — with a capital of 

' Mr. James Brooks, House of Representatives, March 24, 1S64. 
^ Pamphlet of James Gallatin, cited by Mr. Brooks. 

* According to Mr. Hooper, incited to that action by the urgent advice of Mr. 
Gallatin, In House of Representives, April 6, 1864. 

* Mr. Hooper, House of Representatives, March 23, 1864. 



OBJECTIONS TO AMENDATORY ACT. 303 

$10,000, circulated notes to tlie amoimt of $76,280 ! It was 
owned by a single indi^dual wliose liability was no greater tban 
the amount of capital actually invested. 

3. It was objected that the act relieved the capital of the 
national banks from taxation by tbe State autliorities. Mr. 
Kernan quoted from tbe report of tlie Superintendent of Banks 
of ITew York for 1863, an extract which ably and succinctly em- 
bodied the objection : " It cannot be deemed unjust," said the 
• superintendent, " that the burdens of the State shall be imposed 
impartially on the property of the State. Banks, corporations 
and individuals, share alike in the protection of State laws and 
the advantages of local government. The equity which releases 
a large portion of the wealth of the State from local taxation 
and fixes the deficiency upon property less negotiable in its char- 
acter — which exempts the bond of the capitalist only to assess it 
upon the dwelling of the mechanic or the land of the agricult- 
urist — will not be readily admitted. Had Congress limited the 
immunities conferred upon the holders of United States stocks 
to exemption from taxation for all the purposes of the national 
Government, it would probably have served every desirable end. 
But when it goes further and assumes to remove the property 
of citizens from the jurisdiction of the State in which it is lo- 
cated, and exempts it from all burdens of a municipal character, 
it trenches upon gi'ound of questionable utility, which may be 
productive of popular discontent, alike injurious to the Govern- 
ment and the institutions availing themselves of the immunities 
offered." 

It was urged, in answer to this, that the banks were subjected 
to heavier burdens by the national Government than most other 
kinds of property ; that the pubhc faith was pledged that the 
bonds upon which their ckculation was based should be free 
from State and local taxation; that under decisions of the 
Supreme Court banks chartered by the United States could not 
be taxed by the State authorities ; that, were it otherwise, the 
States might tax the national banks out of existence. More- 
over, that the Government left the banks no option but to hold 
Government securities as a portion of their capital, and to com- 
pel them to hold property which might be excessively taxed by 
the States would be fundamentally unjust. 



304 LIFE or SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Tlie amendatory act was approved June 3, 1864. The more 
important modifications effected by it were these : 

1. That no organization should be permitted with a capital 
of less than one himdred thousand dollars ; in cities containing 
over fifty thousand inhabitants capitals not to be less than two 
hundred thousand dollars. Paradoxically enough, however, it 
was enacted in the same section that in places containing 
populations of not more than six thousand, banks with capitals 
of not less than fifty thousand dollars might be authorized. 

2. Shareholders in banks existing under the authority of 
State laws (and converted into national associations), having not 
less than five millions of capital actually paid in and a surplus 
of twenty per cent, on hand (this surplus to be in addition to 
that required by the act and to be kept undiminished), were 
made liable only to the amomit invested in their shares. Should 
any deficiency occur in the required additional surplus of twenty 
per cent., the association was prohibited from paying any divi- 
dends until the deficiency was made good, and the Controller 
of the Currency might compel it to cease business. It was un- 
derstood that this provision was intended to apply particularly 
to the Bank of Commerce in the city of ISTew York. Concern- 
ing this bank some interesting statements were made. Its capi- 
tal was ten millions of dollars, with a right to increase it ulti- 
mately to fifty milhons. It was thought that with so large a 
capital this great coi"poration might prove a formidable enemy 
to the national associations.* It had been in existence twenty- 
six years, and its chartered privileges were to continue until 
1889. It had over twenty-two hundred shareholders, living in 
twenty States and Territories of the United States, in Great 
Britain and the British Provinces, in Prance, in South Amer- 
ica, in Greece, in Asia, and in Mexico. Of these shareholders 
more than seven hundred were women. Its investments in 
United States securities amounted to fourteen millions of dol- 
lars. Its cash items (including $1,Y51,000 United States notes) 
reached the large sum of $7,934,000; and its specie (includ- 
ing $411,912 held for depositors) amounted to $1,534,000. Its 
loans and discounts were two and a half millions ($2,686,000) 

' Remarks of Mr. Broomall, of Pennsylvania, 



MODIFICATIONS EFFECTED BY IT. 305 

and the amount of its deposits nearly fifteen and a lialf millions 
($15,419,000).' 

3. At least fifty per cent, of the capital stock was to be paid 
in before beginning business, and the remainder was* to be paid 
in installments of ten per cent, upon the whole capital at periods 
not further separated than one month each. 

4. The whole bank cu*culation was limited to three hun- 
dred millions of dollars, but there was no restriction as to its 
distribution. ' , 

5. The total liability to the association on any one account 
could not exceed at any one time ten per cent, of the capital ac- 
tually paid in, but the discount of hona-Jlde bills of exchange 
against actually-existing values and the discount of commercial 
paper actually owned by the party negotiating it were not to be 
considered as money borrowed. 

6. Associations in the cities of St. Louis, Chicago, Louis- 
ville, Detroit, Milwaulcee, 'Eom Orleans, Cincinnati, Cleveland, 
Pittsbm-g, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, Kew York, Albany, 
Leavenworth, San Francisco, and Washington, were required to 
have on hand at all times, in lawful money, of the United States, 
an amount equal to at least twenty-five per cent, of the aggre- 
gate amount of their notes in circulation and deposits, and asso- 
ciations located elsewhere than in those cities fifteen per cent, 
in lawful money. Clearing-house certificates representing coin 
or lawful money specially deposited for Clearing-House pur- 
poses to be deemed lawful money in the possession of the asso- 
ciation owning and holding such certificates, and three-fifths of 
the fifteen per cent, lawful money reserve required to be held by 
banks outside of the cities specifically named, might be in funds 
deposited in associations in those cities for the redemption of cir- 
culation. The associations in the several specified cities were 
each required to select an association in the city of ISTew York 
at which to redeem its circulating notes at par. And every as- 
sociation organized elsewhere than in one of the specified cities 
was required to select an association in one of those cities at 
which it would redeem its circulating notes at par. 

Y. One-tenth of aU the net profits was required to be carried 

* This bank rendered important services to the Treasury Department during the 
rebellion ; some of them of an extremely confidential character. 

20 



306 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

to the surplus fund of the association until such fund should 
amount to a sum equal to twenty per cent, of the capital. The 
association itseK and the individual members were ahke prohib- 
ited from Vithdi-awing or permitting to be withdrawn — in the 
form of dividends or otherwise — anij portion of the capital. 
And in addition to semi-annual and quarterly reports, the as- 
sociation was required to make to the Controller on the first 
Tuesday of each month a statement showing the average amount 
of loans aAd discounts, specie and other lawful money, deposits 
and circulation ; and associations located elsewhere than in the 
cities named in the preceding paragraph were required to re- 
turn the amount due them available for the redemption of their 
circulation. Moreover, a Kst of the shareholders with the num- 
ber of shares held by each, and the shareholder's place of resi- 
dence, was required to be kept in the office of the association, 
subject to the inspection of creditors and shareholders, and the 
officers authorized to assess the State taxes. 

8. In lieu of all other taxes' the association was required 

* By the 79^ section of the Internal Revenue Act of July 13, 1866, national 
banks using a capital not exceeding fifty thousand dollars were subjected to the 
payment of a special tax of one hundred dollars, and for every additional thousand 
dollars of capital an additional tax of two dollars. By the 1 10th section of the 
same act a tax of one twenty-fourth of one per cent, per month was laid upon the 
average amount of deposits held by the associations ; one twenty-fourth per cent, a 
month upon the capital beyond the amount invested in United States bonds ; one- 
twelfth of one per cent, upon the average amount of circulation outstanding, in- 
cluding as circulation certified checks, and notes or other obligations intended to 
circulate as money ; and one-sixth of one per cent, a month upon the average amoimt 
of circulation beyond ninety per cent, of the capital of the bank ; and by the 120th 
section five per cent, upon all dividends either of scrip or money, and on all undis- 
tributed sums made or added during the year to their surplus or contingent funds. 
To prevent evasion by neglect or omission to make dividends or addition to surplus 
or contingent funds as often as once in six months, a return of profits is required in 
January and July, upon which a duty of five per cent, is laid. Bank-checks are 
subject to a stamp-duty of two cents ; promissory notes and inland bills of exchange 
five cents upon each one hundred or fraction of one hundred dollars ; letters of 
credit and foreign bills, if drawn in sets of three or more, two cents upon each one 
hundred or fraction of one hundred dollars ; certificates of stock, twenty-five cents 
each ; certificates of profits or interest in the bank, if for not less than ten nor more 
than fifty dollars, ten cents — exceeding fifty and not over one thousand dollars, 
twenty-five cents — for every additional one thousand or fraction of one thousand, 
twenty-five cents ; certificates of deposit for sums not exceeding one hundred dollars, 
two cents — for sums exceeding one hundred dollars five cents ; upon bills or mem- 
orandums of sales of stocks, gold, etc., for each one hundred or fractional part of 



ANALYSIS OF THE VOTES. 307 

to pay to the United States Treasurer in January and July of 
each year a duty of one-half of one per centum each and every 
half-year from and after the 1st of January, 1864, upon the 
average amount of its notes in circulation ; one-quarter of one 
per cent, each half-year upon the average amount of its depos- 
its ; and one-quarter of one per cent, upon the average of its 
capital stock beyond the amount invested in United States bonds. 
The shares of the association were to be subject to taxation by 
the State in which it was located and not elsewhere, but taxes 
imposed upon the shares were not to be greater than those as- 
sessed upon other moneyed capital in the hands of individual 
citizens of the State, nor exceed the rate paid by banks organ- 
ized under the State laws. 

9. Provision was made for the voluntary closing up of the 
business of the association ; and the United States Treasm-er 
was authorized to receive from such association lawful money to 
the amoimt of its circulating notes outstanding,^ and to deliver 
up the securities pledged for their security, and thereupon to 
redeem the outstanding notes at the Treasury and to destroy 
them by burning. 

10. The capitals of State banks converted into national as- 
sociations were not to be less than those of associations organ- 
ized directly under the act, 

11. The privileges of the act were to continue to each asso- 
ciation for a period of twenty years from the date of its organ- 
ization. 

An analysis of the votes upon the passage of this act shows 
in the Senate — for it thirty Republicans ; against it two Repub- 
licans ; and of the Democrats none voted for it. In the House 
the vote stood — ^for the bill seventy-eight Republicans ; against 
it none, and the Democrats voted against it solidly. 

one hundred dollars, one cent ; receipts for money paid in excess of twenty dollars, 
two cents. 

1 Every " bank going into liquidation shall be required to deposit lawful money 
of the United States for its outstanding circulation within six months from the date 
of the vote to go into liquidation, whereupon the bonds pledged as security for such 
circulation shall be surrendered." Failing to do so the "Controller shaU have 
power to sell the bonds pledged for the circulation of said bank at public auction in 
New York City," to provide for its redemption and cancellation and the necessary 
expenses of sale. Banks in liquidation for the purpose of consoUdating with other 
banks are exempted from the operation of this act. 



308 LIFE OF SALMON POETLAND CHASE. 

In his second annual report (dated N^ovember 25, 1804) the 
Controller of the CiuTency stated the number of associations 
organized under the act up to that time to be 584 ; of these 
282 were organized since his first report of which 168 were 
conversions of State into national banks. The whole capital 
stock paid in was $108,964,597.28 ; their aggregate circulation 
was $65,864,650, for the security of which bonds of the 
United States to the amount of $81,961,450 were held by the 
Treasurer of the United States. The Controller declared 
that the rapid conversion of State institutions was effected 
without derangement to the business of the country ; and 
observed that though there were objections to all kinds of paper 
money (the experience of Americans having been that bank- 
notes, with few exceptions, were convertible into coin when 
coin was not wanted and were not convertible when coin was 
wanted), no form had been devised so little objectionable as that 
authorized by the national currency Act. And the Secretary 
of the Treasury (Mr. Fessenden) in his report for the same year, 
made the admission that though he was not among the first to 
approve the plan, time and observation of its effects had con- 
vinced him that if it was not without defects it was based upon 
sound principles. 

Up to this time there had been no discriminating legislation 
against the State bank issues. Mr. Fessenden, the Secretary of 
the Treasury, and Mr. McCuUoch, the Controller of the Cur- 
rency, in the reports just cited, now joined in urging upon Con- 
gress legislation of that character. " It was quite alpparent," 
said Mr. Fessenden, "that the good to be hoped from the 
system could not be fully realized so long as another sys- 
tem, at war with the great objects to be attained, should con- 
tinue to exist unchecked and uncontrolled. While he would 
not recommend the adoption of unfriendly or severe meas- 
ures, likely to embarrass the business of the country, ... he 
was of the opinion that such discriminating legislation should 
be had as would induce the withdrawal of aU other circulation 
than that issued under national authority, at the earliest prac- 
ticable moment." Mi-. McCuUoch declared it " indispensable to 
the financial success of the Treasury that the currency of the 
country should be under the control of the Govermnent. This 



OPERATION OF THE ACT. 309 

could not be the case so long as State institutions had the right 
to flood the country with their issues." He concluded, there- 
fore, that " it could hardly be considered oppressive if Congress 
should prohibit the further issue of bank-notes not authorized 
by itseK, and compel by taxation the withdi'awal of those which 
had been already issued." 

This important object was effected by the sixth section in the 
act approved March 3, 1865, amendatory of the Internal Rev- 
enue Act of June 30, 1864. This section provided " that 
every national banking association, State bank, or State banking 
association should pay a tax of ten per centum on the amount of 
the notes of any State bank or State banking association paid out 
by them after the first day of July, 1866." * In the Internal 
Eevenue Act of July 13, 1866, tliis provision was reenacted 
(section 9) in somewhat more sweeping terms : " Every national 
banking association, State bank, or State banking association, 
shall pay a tax of ten per centum on the amount of notes of 
any person. State bank, or State banking association used for 
circulation, and paid out by them after the first day of August, 
1866, and such tax shall be assessed and paid in such manner as 
shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of Internal Eevenue." ' 

These acts were effective in compelling the retirement of the 
State bank circulation, and the Controller, in his report for 
1865, declared that the national banking system had superseded 
all the State systems, and that the entire control of the cur- 
rency of the country was in the hands of the Federal Govern- 
ment. He reported at the same time that there were in opera- 

' By the seventh section of the act of March 3, 1863, "To provide ways and 
means for the support of the Government," a tax of one per cent, per annum had 
been imposed upon the circulation of " all banks, associations, corporations, and 
individuals " in certain stated proportions to their capital, and two per cent, per 
annum upon the excess. By the act of June 30, 1864, this tax of one per cent, 
was continued, except that it was made payable monthly in installments of one- 
twelfth of one per cent. 

^ The constitutionality of this tax upon the circulation of State bank notes having 
been brought into question, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Veazie Bank 
against Fenno, 8 Wallace, 533, declared that " Congress having undertaken, in the 
exercise of undisputed constitutional power, to provide a currency for the whole 
country, may constitutionally secure the benefit of it to the whole people by appro- 
priate legislation, and to that end may restrain by suitable enactments the circula- 
tion of any notes not issued imder its own authority ; " and that this tax is warranted 
by the Constitution. 



310 



LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 



tion sixteen hundred and forty-seven national banks, with an 
aggregate capital of four hundred and eighteen millions of 
dollars, owned by two hundi*ed thousand stockholders. Their 
total resources on the 1st day of October of that year were 
$1,525,493,960, with liabilities for circulation and deposits 
amounting to $l,024,274,386^eaving a sm-plus for capital and 
earnings of $501,221,574. The increase in national banking 
capital paid in during the year ending October 1, 1866, was 
stated at $21,515,557 ; the increase in amount of bonds deposited 
to secm'e circulation at $56,247,750, and the increase in amount 
of circulation issued at $101,824,698. While, however, the 
apparent circulation was increased by over one hundred mill- 
ions, the actual increase did not much exceed fifty millions ; the 
circulation retired by State banks converted into national as- 
sociations having been fully fifty millions of dollars. 

.... As a fitting close to this chapter, a table showing the 
condition of the national banks of the United States at the close 
of business on Friday, the 26th of December, 1873, is appended : 



EES0UKCE8. 

Loans and discounts .... 

Overdrafts 

United States bonds to secure circulation 
United States bonds to secure deposits 
United States bonds on hand 
Other stocks, bonds, and mortgages . 
Due from redeeming and reserve agents 
Due from other national banks . 
Due from State banks and bankers 
Real estate, furniture, and fixtures 

Current expenses 

Premiums paid 

Checks and other cash items 

Exchanges for Clearing-House . 

Bills of other national banks . 

Bills of State banks . . . . . 

Fractional currency .... 

Specie 

Legal-tender notes 

United States certificates of deposit for legal 

tender notes 

Clearing-House loan certificates 

Total ...*.. 



$852,620,661 35 

4,195,893 70 

389,384,400 00 

14,815,200 00 

8,630,850 00 

24,358,125 06 

73,032,046 87 

40,404,757 97 

11,185,253 08 

35,556,746 48 

8,678,170 39 

7,987,707 14 

12,321,972 80 

62,881,342 16 

21,371,456 00 

81,723 00 

2,287,454 03 

26,907,037 58 

104,922,506 00 

24,010,00 00 
3,797,000 00 

$1,729,380,303 61 



CONDITION OF NATIONAL BANKS. 3H 

LIABILITIES. 

Capital stock paid in . . . . . $490,266,611 00 

Surplus fund 120,967,767 91 

Undivided profits 58,375,169 43 

National bank-notes outstanding . . 341,320,256 00 

State bank-notes outstanding . . . 1,130,585 00 

Dividends unpaid 1,269,474 74 

Individual deposits . . . . ' . 540,504,102 78 

United States deposits .... 7,680,375 26 
Deposits of the United States disbursing 

officers 4,705,593 36 

Due to national banks .... 114,990,666 54 

Due to State banks and bankers . . . 86,598,076 29 

Notes and bills rediscounted . . . 3,811,487 89 

Bills payable 8,826,137 41 

Due to Clearing-House for loan certificates . 3,928,000 00 

Total $1,729,380,303 61 



CHAPTEK XXXIII. 

THE MOEEILL TAKITr TAKIFF AMENDMENTS GENEKAL KEVISION 

OF THE TAKIFF OF 1861 TARIFF EECEIPTS ESTTEKNAL 

KEVENUE BUREAU CREATED THE DERECT TAX INCOME 

FEOM INTERNAL REVENUE COMMERCE BETWEEN LOYAL AND 

INSURGENT STATES EMBARRASSMENT OF THE SUBJECT ^MR. 

chase's views PROCLAMATION OF BLOCKADE, AND SUSPEN- 
SION OF INTERNAL COMMERCE BY THE PRESIDENT ACTS OF 

CONGRESS ON THE SUBJECT POLICY OF ME. CHASE " TRADE 

SHALL FOLLOW THE FLAG " ADVANCE IN THE PRICE OF 

COTTON, AND ABUSES OCCASIONED BY EAGER DESIRE FOR 
TRAFFIC NECESSITY OF THE INTERNAL COMMERCE — REGULA- 
TIONS FOR ITS GOVERNMENT ORIGIN OF FREEDMEn's BU- 
REAU—MAGNITUDE OF THE INTERNAL COMMERCE SYSTEM 

CORRUPTION AMONG THE OFFICERS A PAINFUL INSTANCE OF 

THIS. 

THE " Morrill tariff," as it is liistorically called, became a 
law by receiving the signature of President Buchanan on 
the 2d of Marcb, 1861, and was to go into operation on tbe 1st 
day of April following. Tbe tariff act in force at the date of 
Mr. Lincoln's first inauguration was that of March 3, 185Y. 
The Morrill tariff was amended in important particulars, as we 
have seen in a former chapter, by the act of August 5, 1861, 
under which heavy duties were laid on teas, coffees, sugars and 
molasses, substantially as recommended by Mr. Chase ; and this 
act, in its turn, was materially modified by that of the 24th of 
December, 1861, by which the duties on the specific articles 
named were further increased, as were also those upon some 
other articles. This latter act was also framed chiefly in accord- 



TARIFF MEASURES. 3I3 

ance with recommendations made by Mr. Cliase. There was no 
general revision of the tariff, however, until June, 1862, when 
a considerable increase in the rates was laid upon the whole 
range of imported commodities, and an additional tonnage tax 
was levied upon both American and foreign vessels. An act 
modifying some of the provisions of this last-mentioned act, was 
approved by the President March 3, 1863. ^ And by a joint 
resolution of the 29th of April,* 1864, the duties on all foreign 
goods — printing-paper for books and newspapers excepted — 
were increased fifty per cent, for sixty days ; a measure fortu- 
nate for some importers and merchants, and quite as unfortunate 
for others. But the anxious solicitude of Congress that the 
educational improvement of the American people should not 
be impeded by this sort of " snap " legislation, is witnessed in 
the exemption of printing-paper from the operation of the 
resolution. 

These were the several tariff measm*es acted upon by Con- 
gress during Mr. Chase's services in the Treasury. On the 30th 
of June, 1864, however, the President approved an act for a 
further augmentation of the rates of duties ; the primary object 
of this act being, as explained by Mr. Morrill, " to increase the 
revenue upon importations from abroad, and at the same time 
to shelter and nurse our domestic products, from which we 

' This joint resolution came near being attended by some awkward circum- 
stances. It took effect on the 29th of April, 1864, and, as its operation was limited to 
sixty days, it would cease to be effective of course on the 28th of June subsequent. 
It was supposed at the time of its passage that a tariff bill then in course of prepa- 
ration in the Committee of Ways and Means would, within the speciiSed sixty days, 
become a law. But it happened otherwise ; the act of June 30, 1864, was to become 
operative July 1st ; meantime, on the 29th and 30th of June, the import duties would 
be fifty per cent, less than on the 28th, and an average of about fifty per cent, less 
than they would be on the 1st of July. This curious condition of the tariff act was 
overlooked until near the close of the sitting of Congress, on the 2Sth of June, 
when the Secretary became aware of it. Accompanied by Assistant-Secretary Field, 
Mr. Chase went at once to the Capitol, and by interrupting the regular course of the 
proceedings, procured such action by Congress upon the joint resolution as extended 
its operation over to the 1st of July. Near midnight Mr. Lincoln approved the ex- 
tension by attaching his signature to the renewed resolution, the operation of which 
was confined to two days ! — a rather remarkable incident in our national legisla- 
tion — and a few minutes later Mr. Field delivered the completed resolution into 
the hands of Mr. Seward, at his residence, thus placing it in the custody of the State 
Department and completing all the necessary legal preliminaries. 



314 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

draw tlie largest part of our revenue, so tliat tlie aggregate 
amount sliall not be diminished tlirougli the substitution of 
foreign articles for those which we have been accustomed to 
•make at home." 

The prospect of a civil war near at hand had occasioned a 
large falling off in the income from customs, even before Mr. 
Lincoln's inauguration. The actual presence of war operated 
still more calamitously upon the revenues from this source. 
The receipts for the first quarter of the fiscal year 1861 — it 
ended on the 30th of September, 1860 — were somewhat more 
than sixteen millions of dollars ($16,119,831) ; during the second 
quarter, ending December 30, 1860 — the presidential election 
intervening meantime — they were reduced to $8,174,167 ; there 
was a slight increase during the third quarter, ending March 31, 
1861, when they were $9,772,574; and reached their lowest 
point during the fourth quarter, which ended June 30, 1861, 
when they were only $5,515,552 ; making a total of $39,582,124 
for the whole year. Mr. Chase, in his report for December, 
1861, basing his conclusions for the fiscal year 1862 upon the 
^receipts of the first quarter ending September, 1861 (which 
were $7,198,602), estimated that the whole receipts up to the 
30th of June, 1862, would not exceed $32,198,602. The actual 
receipts, however — in consequence of the renewed impetus 
given to commerce and production by the extensive demand 
for commodities created by the war — were $49,056,397. For 
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, they were $69,059,399, 
and for that ending on the 30th of June, 1864, they were 
$102,316,152 ; a veiy great and important increase in the cus- 
toms revenues. 

Additional methods of permanent revenue were necessary ; 
and accordingly the Internal Revenue Bureau was created by 
an act of Congress, approved by the President July 1, 1862. 
The germ of this bureau will be found in the act of August 5, 
1861, " to provide increased revenue from imports to pay inter- 
est on the public debt, and for other purposes." It was in this 
act that provision was made for the levy of a direct tax of 
twenty millions, and the appointment of Federal officers for 
its assessment and collection. By the fifty -sixth section 
the President, upon the nomination of the Secretary of the 



INTERNAL REVENUE BUREAU. 315 

Treasury, was authorized to appoint an. officer to be called tlie 
" Commissioner of Taxes," who was to be charged, under the 
direction of the Secretary, with the general superintendence 
of the officers and method of collecting the direct taxes. He 
was to have a salary of $3,000 a year, and the Secretary was 
directed to assign to the Commissioner the necessary clerks, 
whose aggregate salaries were not to exceed $6,000 a year. It 
does not appear, however, that a Commissioner of Taxes was 
ever appointed. 

For the collection of the direct taxes in the insurrectionary 
districts, a special system was devised, under which a board of 
thi'ee tax commissioners was appointed in each one of the States 
in which rebellion was declared to exist by proclamation of the 
President. These commissioners were to enter upon their duties 
in the several States to which they were sent, whenever the 
commanding general of the forces of the United States, entering 
into any insurrectionary State or district, should, in any parish, 
county or district of the same, have established the national 
military authority. The commissioners were accordingly ap 
pointed in some districts ; but most of them spent their time 
quarreling with each other, and in sending private letters to 
the Secretary extolling their own industry and usefulness, and 
complaining at the same time of the sloth and incapacity of 
their associates. The system was not a successful one. 

The act establishing an Internal Revenue Bureau in the 
Treasury Department, authorized the President to appoint, not 
a Commissioner of Taxes, but a Commissioner of Internal 
Revenue, whose nomination was to be confirmed by the Senate. 
His salary was fixed at $4,000 a year, and his duties were to be 
performed under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury. 
He was to be furnished of course with clerks, in number large 
enough to transact the business of his office. For the purpose 
of " assessing, levying and collecting the duties or taxes pre- 
scribed by the act," the President was authorized to divide the 
States and Territories into convenient collection districts, and to 
nominate to the Senate an assessor and collector for each dis- 
trict. The duties of these officers are sufficiently indicated by 
their titles. 

It was supposed that the taxes laid by the act would yield a 



316 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

yearly revenue of about one hundred millions of dollars. They 
were laid chiefly upon spirits ; ale, beer and porter ; on licenses 
for carrying on certain trades and businesses ; on manufactures, 
and on manufactured articles and products ; on auction-sales ; 
on carriages, yachts, billiard-tables, and plate ; on slaughtered 
cattle ; on railroads, steamboats, and ferry-boats ; on railroad 
bonds ; on banks, tnist-companies, savings institutions, and in- 
surance companies ; on salaries and pay of officers and persons 
in the service of the United States, and passports ; on advertise- 
ments ; on incomes ; on legacies and distributive shares of per- 
sonal property. It provided also for a comprehensive system 
of stamp duties. 

The Bureau was promptly organized by the appointment of 
a commissioner, who entered upon the duties of his office July 
17, 1862, and the appointment of the authorized subordinates. 
The receipts of the office, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, 
were $37,640,787.95 ; and in his report for that year, submitted 
I^ovember 30, 1863, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue — 
in a burst of patriotic enthusiasm — informed the Secretary of the 
Treasury that the " tax laws had not only been endured, but on 
the whole, had been welcomed ' by the people ! " The receipts 
for the second fiscal year of the existence of the Bm*eau, ending 
on the 30th of June, 1864, were $109,741,134.10. The income 
of the Government from both customs and internal revenues 
in the two years ending June 30, 1864, was $318,756,474.04, 
or only about eight millions more than the receipts from inter- 
nal revenue alone in the year 1866, when they reached a total 
of $310,906,984.17. 

The original internal revenue act was amended or modified 
by the subsequent acts of March 3, 1863, May 7 and June 
30, 1864. By the act of May 7th, the duty on distilled spirits 
was fixed at sixty cents per gallon, in lieu of the former tax but 
in addition to license duties ; and by that of June 30th, the duty 
on distilled spirits was increased to $1.50 per gallon after the 
passage of the act, and to two dollars per gallon after the 1st 
day of February, 1865. The duty on ale and beer was at the 
same lime fixed at one dollar per gallon. These largely en- 

' It is rather more likely that, in the spirit of Burns's song, they prayed, " May 
the de'il dance away wi' the exciseman ! " 



COMMERCE BETWEEN STATES. 3I7 

hanced taxes were of doubtful policy, for, while they increased 
the revenue, they led to enormous frauds and an appalling ag- 
gregate of perjmy and corruption. 

In connection with the general subject of revenue, Mr. Chase | 
thought it his duty, in his report made at the extraordinary ses- 
sion of Congress, in July, 1861, to invite the attention of that 
body to the condition of our foreign 'commerce, and especially 
to commerce between the States as affected by the rebellion^ 
At the ports of several of the States, he said, the collection of 
duties on foreign goods had been obstructed and prevented dur- 
ing several months. This condition of affairs, and the admis- 
sion of imported merchandise into those ports without payment 
of duties to the United States, had given opportunity for many 
frauds upon the revenue, and necessarily had occasioned serious 
harmful disturbance to the regular commerce of the country. 
It was the province of Congress to apply the proper remedies ; 
and he sr_ggested that these remedies might be found in closing 
the ports where the collection of duties was disturbed, or by 
providing for their collection on shipboard, or elsewhere beyond 
the reach of obstruction. Every iudependent nation, he ob- 
served, had a right to determine what ports within its territorial 
limits should be, and what ports should not be, open to foreign, 
commerce ; and nothing could be clearer, where one or more 
ports might be temporarily in possession of insurgents against 
the Government, than that suitable regulations might be pre- 
scribed by the proper authorities to guard the revenue against 
diminution by adequate provision for its collection elsewhere 
than within the port, or for depriving the port itself of its char- 
acter as a port of entry or delivery until the insurrection was 
suppressed. 

Great damao'e and inconvenience to the commerce between ! 

. . . ! 

the States had arisen from the same general cause. To mitigate i 
those evils and to prevent, as far as possible, the perversion of 
commerce between the States into an agency for the supply of 
the insurgents with means for maintaining and extending the 
insurrection, the Secretary said he had issued two circular orders 
to collectors, copies of which he submitted. 

Li framing those orders, he said he was necessarily much 
embarrassed by the absence of any laws regulating commerce 



n, 



318 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

among tlie States, and by tlie necessity of conforming tliem to 
conditions of hostility created by the insurrection. These con- 
ditions, under some circumstances, would make all commerce 
illegal ; while, under other circumstances, they would only make 
unlawful commerce carried on directly with insurgents. In or- 
der to remove embarrassment, legislation was required ; and Mr. 
Chase recommended a suitable enactment giving to the Presi- 
dent power to determine, by proclamation or other notification, 
within what limits an insm-rection had obtained, for the time, 
controlling ascendency, and should therefore be regarded as at- 
tended by the effects of civil war in the total suspension of com- 
merce, and to establish by license siich exceptions as he might 
deem expedient and practicable. Such an enactment should 
also provide penalties and forfeitures for attempts to carry on 
imKcensed commerce with insurgents or places declared to be in 
insurrection. 

This question of commercial intercourse between citizens of 
the Federal and insurgent States, immediately upon the break- 
ing out of hostihties, became one of extreme embarrassment 
to the Government, and, in the language of Mr. Chase, of 
" much and painful consideration." It was of special and great 
importance along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and in West 
Yirginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. Abundant supplies from the 
ISTorth found their way into the insurgent lines, and it speedily 
became apparent that the whole commerce in those districts 
would be carried on in the interest of rebellion. "Whether ut- 
terly to prohibit trade, or allow it imder restrictions, was anx- 
iously debated. The character of the population greatly com- 
plicated the subject. Many were rebels, but many also were 
loyal, and to give protection and encouragement to those who 
adhered to the Union, was rightly thought to be a matter alike 
of political duty and of sound policy. At the same time, it was 
the sincere desire of the Administration to treat the insm'gents 
i — with all possible f orbearancej\ nor was the question free from 
aspects of constitutional obligation. Chief-Justice Taney after- 
ward decided, in an opinion of great abiHty, that commerce 
between the States could not constitutionally be prohibited nor 
restricted by acts of Congress ; and the abstract correctness of his 
judgment was not questioned. " I have little doubt," wrote 



BLOCKADE OF SOUTHERN PORTS. 319 

Mr. Chase to William P. Mellen, on the 29th of May, 18G1, 
"that the exchange of provisions and supplies, except muni- 
tions of war and other articles usually prohibited, would be more 
useful than injurious. The difficulty, however, is this: The 
States controlled by insurrectionists — especially by insurrection- 
ists exercising the powers of government — can hardly be re- 
garded otherwise than as hostile communities, with which the 
United States are, for the time being, at actual war. The rules 
applicable to the relations of war must of necessity be applied. 
If war existed between this country and England, no trade what- 
ever would be permitted. American property shipped to Eng- 
land, and English property shipped to America, would be liable 
to seizure. Constant experience teaches us that property shipped 
to the insurgent States is liable to seizure * and is constantly 
seized ; and if the property of the citizens of those States, shipped 
into the United States, is not seized, it is simply because the 
Federal Government desires to treat them, so far as practicable, 
not as enemies but as citizens. I see no way in which safe in- 
tercourse can be established between citizens of the loyal States 
and those under insurgent control. The question is not one of 
revenue nor one of rights in a state of peace ; but a question of 
supplies to enemies, and imhappily must be controlled by con- 
siderations belonging to a state of war. The best thing to be 
done, as it seems to me, is to establish the power of the Govern- 
ment, in cooperation with the people of Kentucky and Western 
Yirginia, within those limits, and let commerce follow the flag. 
This pohcy opens Missouri, Kentucky, and Western Yirginia to 
the trade, and will extend southward as rapidly and as far as the 
authority of the Federal Government is restored." -'1 

Already, on the 19th of April, 1861, the President had 
issued a proclamation declaring the ports of South Carohna, 
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, 
under blockade, and on the 2Yth of the same month, by another 
proclamation, had laid a blockade upon the ports of l^orth Caro- 
hna and Virginia also. It was in pursuance of the requirements 
of the blockade thus established that the Secretary issued the 
circular orders to collectors of customs referred to above. The 
fii'st of these orders, dated the 2d of May, 1861, instructed the 

' This was done by Confederate officers or agents. 



320 LI^E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

seizure for confiscation of all arms, munitions of war, provisions, 
and other supplies to persons and parties in those States or dis- 
tricts in rebellion against the United States. But this order re- 
lated only to shipments over internal vt^ater-courses and by sea. 
The second order, under date of June 12, 1861, was in its effects 
a modification of the first ; the intention of the department be- 
ing, as was stated, " to leave the owners of all property perfectly 
free to control it in such manner as they see fit, without inter- 
ference or detention by the officers of the Federal Government, 
except for the purpose of preventing any use or disposal of such 
property for the aid and comfort of insurgents, or in commerce 
Lwith States or places controlled by insurgents." 

In accordance with the recommendations of his report, Con- 
gress made provision for the regulation of commercial inter- 
course between the loyal and insurgent States, upon land as well 
as by water, by promptly passing — on the 13th of July, 1861 — 
a bill prepared and submitted by the Secretary. The fifth sec- 
tion of this act empowered the President, under the certain cir- 
cumstances of insurrection specified in it, to issue his proclama- 
tion declaring the existence of such insurrection, and to desig- 
nate the State or States in which it existed, " and thereupon, all 
commercial intercourse by and between the same and the citi- 
zens thereof, and the citizens of the rest of the United States, 
shall cease and be unlawful so long as such condition of hostility 
shall continue ; and all goods and chattels, wares and merchan- 
dise, coming from said State or section into the other parts of 
the United States, and all proceeding to such State or section 
by land or water shall, together with the vessel or vehicle con- 
veying the same, or conveying persons to or from such State or 
section, be forfeited to the United States." But the President 
was at the same time authorized to license and permit commer- 
cial intercourse with any part of said State or section, the in- 
habitants of which were declared to be in a state of insurrec- 
tion, in such articles and for such time and by such persons, as 
he, in his discretion, might think most conducive to the public 
interest ; and the intercourse so licensed by the President was to 
be conducted and carried on only in pursuance of rules and 
regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
The Secretary was authorized to appoint such officers, at places 



THE INTERNAL COMMERCE. 321 

where tliere were no officers of tlie customs, as miglit be needed 
to carry into effect the Kcenses and rules and regulations made 
in pursuance of the law. - -, 

But it was not thought advisable at once to establish any ' 
general rules and regulations for the restricted trade authorized 
by the act. In a few instances licenses were granted to convey 
particular articles into insurrectionary States, and to carry on a 
limited trade with parts of Eastern Tirginia inhabited by loyal 
people ; otherwise, so far as it was possible to do, the prohibi- 
tion of the act was enforced to its full extent. But to avoid 
the suffering and practical inconveniences which attended upon 
a total suspension of commerce, the Secretary, with the appro- 
bation of the President, established regulations in accordance 
with which cotton, rice, and other articles of property collected 
in insurgent districts occupied by Union troops, were forwarded 
to ITew York and were there sold. The sales were made for ac- 
count of the Government, and the proceeds paid into the national 
Treasury. The general rule in the judgment of the Secretary 
was, however, that " trade should follow the flag," and whenever 
the authority of the Union was fully restored in districts suffi- 
ciently extensive for the reestablishment of loyal govermnent, 
so as to afford adequate guarantee against abuses in furnishing 
aid and comfort to rebelhon, that the ports should be opened) 
and all commerce be freely allowed. 

In 1862 (act of May 20th), the powers of the Treasury De- 
partment, in respect of this internal trade, were still fm-ther en- 
larged, and the Sec]:etary was empowered to prohibit aAid pre- 
vent the transportation in any vessel, or upon any railroad, turn- 
pike, or other road or means of transportation within the United 
States, of any goods, wares, or merchandise of whatever charac- 
ter, and whatever their ostensible destination, in all cases where 
there should be satisfactory reasons for believing that such arti- 
cles were intended for any place in the possession or under the 
control of insurgents, or where there was imminent danger that 
such articles would fall into the possession or control of insur- 
gents ; and in cases where he thought it expedient to do so, 
he might require reasonable security that such articles should 
not be transported to any place under insm'rectionary control, 
nor in any way used to give aid and comfort to insurgents ; and 
21 



322 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

violation of tlie act was to work forfeiture of tlie articles trans- 
ported. 

Again, by tlie act of March 12, 18G3, the powers and du- 
ties of the Secretary were still further augmented, but now with 
special reference to property captured and abandoned in the in- 
surgent States. The Secretary was authorized to appoint a 
special agent or agents to " receive and collect all abandoned 
property in any State or Territory, or any portion of any State 
or Territory designated as in insurrection against the lawful Gov- 
ernment of the United States ; " and all property coming into 
any of the United States not declared to be in insurrection from 
within any of the States declared to be in insurrection, through 
or by any other person other than an agent of the Treasury 
duly appointed, or under a lawful clearance, was to be confis- 
cated. And it was made the duty of every officer and private 
of the army, and officer and sailor of the navy, and every ma- 
rine, who might take or receive any cotton, rice, sugar, or tobac- 
co, from persons in the insurgent districts, to turn it over to the 
authorized agent of the Treasury ; and suitable penalties were 
provided in cases of failure to fulfill the law. 

Meantime, the rapid and extraordinary advance in the prices 
of cotton and tobacco especially, and of other Southern products, 
and the certainty of large gains made in the traffic in those arti- 
cles, excited an eager cupidity, and a multitude of daring specu- 
lators engaged in the trade. Cotton (middling) sold in Decem- 
ber, 1860, at ten cents a pound ; in December, 1861, it had ad- 
vanced to 28 cents ; December, 1862, it sold at 68 cents ; in De- 
cember, 1863, it had risen to 84 cents ; and in 1865 it had reached 
the extraordinary figure of 120 cents per pound ! It is not an 
astonishing circumstance, therefore, that the prospect of sudden 
fortune made in cotton, attracted into that traffic thousands of 
bold and adventurous men. They infested the armies and cor- 
rupted the army officers. They penetrated through our own mili- 
tary lines into the enemy's country, and communicated informa- 
tion and furnished rebels with supplies. General Canby, writing 
from New Orleans in 1864, declared that there were ten thou- 
sand men within our lines who were stimulated into active opposi- 
tion to the successful prosecution of the war, by the cotton-traffic. 
These men, he said, had a prospective hope of interest in es^ery 



EVILS OF TEE COTTON TRATFIC. 323 

"bale in the rebel country ; and as tliey knew tliat Federal mili- 
tary expeditions were followed by tbe captm*e or destruction of 
cotton, they sought to prevent them by giving to the insurgents 
information of every contemplated movement, He had not 
sent out a single expedition without finding agents of this kind 
in communication with the enemy, nor one in which he had not 
been foiled, to some extent, by their acts. The rebel armies 
both east and west of the Mississippi, dm-ing the preceding 
twelve months, had been largely supported by this unlawful 
traffic. He said that if it was earned on in the manner and to 
the extent claimed by those who controlled it, the inevitable 
result, in his judgment, must be to give strength and efficiency 
to the rebel army equivalent to an addition of fifty thousand 
men. He had captured a number of these agents, and had 
them in custody awaiting trial ; but their punishment would be 
no compensation for the evil they had occasioned, and would 
not secure the country from future disasters from the same 
cause. General Grant, in a letter written to Mr. Chase on the 
21st of July, 1863, from his headquarters at Yicksbm-g, said : 
" My experience in West Tennessee is that any trade whatever 
with the rebellious States is weakening us to at least 33 per 
cent, of our force. !N"o matter what the restrictions thrown 
around trade, if any whatever is allowed, it will be made the 
means of supplying to the enemy what they want. Restrictions, 
if lived up to, make trade unprofitable, and hence none but dis- 
honest men go into it. I venture to say that no honest man has 
made money in "West Tennessee in the last year, while many 
fortunes have been made there during that time." The same 
complaints were made by other general officers of the army in 
the South and "West and even on the Atlantic coast. It is proba- 
bly no exaggerated estimate that from the beginning to the end 
of the war the surreptitious traffic thus carried on reached, at 
the least, an aggregate of two hundred millions of dollars. Of 
course the Treasury policy and administration were severely as- 
sailed as the cause of it. But whether, in the absence of any 
restrictions imposed by the civil authority and in the presence 
of an absolute freedom of commerce in those districts in the in- 
surgent States reoccupied by the Federal troops, the abuses com- 
plained of would have been less, may well be doubted. On the 



324: LIFE OP SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

other liandj it was clearly the duty as well as tlie policy of the 
Govemment to revive trade as rapidly as the authority of the 
Union was reestablished. Large populations dwelt in the recov- 
ered districts, and almost every means of subsistence was taken 
from them by the ravages of contending armies. To leave them 
without any appliances for procuring the necessaries of life was 
hnpossible ; to allow unrestricted traflBc was to invite those very 
abuses which the army authorities seemed imable to prevent, 
even with the aid of the civil police power, and was equally im- 
possible. For a period the whole subject was almost exclusively 
under the military control, and with no better results than when 
it afterward was devolved exclusively upon Treasury agents. 
The jurisdiction of the Secretary at no time extended into or 
beyond the lines of the army. The whole difficulty seemed to 
have been, after all, a want of that severe and rigorous discipline 
within our military lines which alone makes an army entirely 
effective. General Butler hung Mumf ord for tearing down the 
Federal flag at 'New Orleans ; at the worst a venial offence, com- 
mitted in a fever of Southern patriotism ; but no traflBcker in cot- 
ton — ^whose motives were purely sordid, who betrayed his coim- 
try for mere gain — seems to have met a similar and equally de- 
served punishment. 

In pursuance of the act of 13th of July, 1861, the President 
issued a proclamation, in which the inhabitants of the States of 
Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, ISTorth Carolina, Tennessee, 
Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida 
(with certain small exceptions), were in a state of insurrection 
against the United States, and that all commercial intercom-se 
between those States and their inhabitants, with the exceptions 
named, and the citizens of other States and other parts of States, 
was unlawful, and would continue unlawful until the insurrec- 
tion should cease or was suppressed ; and that all goods and 
chattels, wares and merchandise, coming from those States (with 
the exceptions named) into other parts of the United States, 
without the special license and permission of the President, 
through the Secretary of the Treasury, would be forfeited to 
the United States. 

It was not, however, until the 4th of March, 1862, that the 
Secretary promulgated general regulations on the subject of 



TRADE REGULATIONS. 325 

internal commerce. The regulations then made were few and 
brief, but were believed to be adequate to existing exigencies. 
Dm-ing the summer of 1862, however, the requirements rapidly 
enlarged, and on the 28th of August of that year, further and 
more definite and important regulations were issued, and the 
number of officers for their enforcement was considerably in- 
creased. No goods or merchandise, whatever might be its os- 
tensible destination, was to be transported to any place then 
under insm*gent control, nor to any place on the south side of 
the Potomac Kiver ; nor to any place on the north side of the 
Potomac and south of the Washington and Annapolis Pailroad ; 
nor to any place on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake ; nor to 
any place on the south side of the Ohio Piver, below Wheeling, 
except Louisville ; nor to any place on the west side of the Mis- 
sissippi River, below the mouth of the Des Moines, except St. 
Louis, without the permit of a duly authorized officer of the 
Treasury Department. All transportation of coin or bullion to 
any State or section declared to be in insurrection was absolutely 
prohibited, except for military purposes and under miKtary or- 
ders, or under the special license of the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. And no payment of gold or silver would be allowed to be 
made for cotton or merchandise within any insm'gent State or 
section. And all cotton or merchandise purchased or paid for 
therein, directly or indirectly, in gold or silver, was declared 
forfeited to the United States. - ITo clearance or permit whatso- 
ever was to be granted for any shipment to any port, place, or 
section affected by the blockade, except for military purposes, 
and upon the certificate and request of either the War or !N'avy 
Department. All applications for permits to transport or trade 
in goods were to be in writing, stating the character of the mer- 
chandise, with the name of the consignee, and the route of 
transportation, and the number and description of the packages 
and the marks upon them. The applicant was to make oath to 
his statement, and also that it should not by any authority, or 
act or connivance of his, be so transported or used in any way as 
to give aid, comfort, information, or encouragement to insur- 
gents. The Secretary of War and of the JSTavy issued orders in- 
structing military and naval officers to render all necessary as- 
sistance to enforce these regulations. 



326 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Fm'tlier regulations were from time to time promulgated, all 
having in view the same general object — that of regulating 
trade in districts and States recovered from the insm-rectionists, 
and of preventing intercourse and traffic in supplies, with them. 
The most important and comprehensive of these were issued on 

pthe 11th of September, 1863. They were the result of long and 
most careful consideration and consultations between the Presi- 
dent and the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Secretaries of the War and 'Navj Depart- 
ments, and also between the Secretary of the Treasmy and the 
ablest and most experienced of the agents long before appointed 
by him to superintend the internal commerce. They were not 
adopted without many misgivings: but the appetite for trade 
was eager and exacting, and the impatience of all restraint, how- 
ever salutary or necessary, was very great. The judgments of 
the best informed, including the President, concurred in the 
conviction that it was necessary to grant licenses, under restric- 

(__tions as rigid, however, as were possible to be imposed^ The 
policy of the Treasury Department was explained in a letter 
of Mr. Chase to Kalph S. Hart, January 5, 1861: "I keep 
steadily in view these general principles — 1. Absolute free- 
dom of trade where there is no danger that supplies will be fur- 
nished to the rebels. 2. Restricted trade where there is such 
danger, either in portions of the loyal States bordering upon 
rebel States or in rebel States occupied by our military forces. 
3. 'No intercourse at all between those in rebel lines and those 
within national lines. In carrying out the second principle 
here indicated, my intention is that the restrictions shall be 
stringent enough to prevent supplies to insurgents beyond our 
lines, and yet not so stringent as to prevent supplies to the 
population within om* lines." 

Under these last regulations the country was divided into 
five special agencies, and a supervising special agent was ap- 
pointed over each, and under these were appointed " assistant 
special agents," " local special agents," and " agency aids." The 
first of these agencies was comprised in that portion of the Uni- 
ted States west of the Alleghany Mountains, known as the Yal- 
ley of the Mississippi, and extending southward so as to include 
so much of the States of Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and 



TRADE REGULATIONS. 327 

Louisiana, as miglit be occupied by the national forces operat- 
ing from the north. The second comprised the State of Vir- 
ginia and so much of the State of West Virginia as lay east of 
the Alleghany Mountains ; and also to the north and east of the 
boundaries so described, from which trade was carried on with 
the States or parts of States declared to be in insurrection. The 
third agency comprised the State of ^ISTorth Carolina ; the fourth 
the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida ; and the fifth 
the State of Texas, and so much of the States of Louisiana, Ar- 
kansas, Alabama, and Mississippi, as there was or might be with- 
in the lines of the national forces operating from the south. 
The regulations laid down for the government of trade under 
the supervision of these several agencies were most minute and 
comprehensive, and were thought to cover all the contingencies 
likely to arise. They provided also for the collection, custody 
and sale of abandoned and captm-ed property, which was thus 
described : " Abandoned property is of two kinds : first, that 
which has been or may be deserted by the owners ; and, second, 
that which has been or may be voluntarily abandoned by the 
owners to the civil or military authorities of the United States. 
Captured property is that which has been or may be seized or 
taken from hostile possession by the national, military, or naval 
forces." Provision was made, as well by the law as by the reg- 
ulations of the Treasury, for the recovery by the owners of 
abandoned property, under certain restrictions touching loyalty, 
of the proceeds of its sale, deducting the costs and charges ; but 
the authority to collect extended only to personal property — al- 
though, by an order of the Secretary of War, the care of aban- 
doned plantations was in the summer of 1863 devolved upon 
the supervising agents of the Treasury — and included furniture, 
family pictures, equipage, clothing, and household effects and 
utensils, and articles even of a perishable nature. A part of the 
" property " which came under the supervision of the Treasury 
agents were slaves found upon abandoned plantations in South 
Carolina. Some of these were put to work upon lands in the 
neighborhood of Beaufort ; a school was established for their in- 
struction ; most of this being done under the immediate direction 
of personal friends of Mr. Chase. The Secretary took a warm 
personal interest in this little colony of blacks ; and it was this 



328 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

small beffinnino: whicli resulted afterward in tlie creation of the 
Freedmen's Bm-eau ; an establishment which grew to vast pro- 
portions — for a while beneficent in its operations, but at last de- 
generating into an abuse. 

To these various regulations others were added from time to 
time, until the whole of them f oi-med a code of laws adapted to 
the inter-State commerce in a period of war. With the sup- 
pression of the rebellion and the seizm-e of large quantities of 
cotton by the Federal officers, civil and military, belonging to 
private persons engaged in rebellion, as well as to the Confeder- 
ate Government, modifications of the old regulations and some 
entirely new ones were made to meet the altered circumstances 
of the country. 

This brief and imperfect sketch of the internal commercial 
intercourse system of the Treasury Department during the war 
will give to many readers new views of the magnitude of the 
operations conducted under the administration of Mr. Chase. 
The number of officers employed in the supervision of the in- 
ternal commerce amounted to several hundreds, spread all over 
the insurgent States ; and the " revenue marine," a branch of 
the Treasury service, of no very great extent before the war, 
was considerably enlarged to assist in enforcing the regulations. 
The revenue-cutters, old and new, operated with especial and 
admitted efficiency along the Potomac Eiver and upon the At- 
lantic coast. The income of the Government derived from fees 
collected by the agents in the transaction of the business of their 
several offices sufficed, according to a statement made by Secre- 
tary Fessenden in 1864, to pay the expenses of the establish- 
ment. 

Some of the agents became corrupt, despite every effort to 
prevent corruption, IN'o sure calculation could be made upon 
the integrity of any man. Established uprightness of character 
never lost its value, of course, but it was no certain guarantee 
against corrupt practices in the presence of powerful temptar 
tions. Some men went into the service of the Treasury, in this 
special employment, whose past lives had been irreproachable ; 
but they fell. Some, of not so good fame when they entered 
it, came out untarnished, having borne themselves purely in 
their offices. In a word, the times were out of joint. 



CORRUPTION OF AGENTS, 329 

Early in 1864: Mr. Cliase appointed a gentleman whom lie 
had long personally known to an agency on the Mississippi 
Kiver. This gentleman was thoroughly well known in his 
community as a lawyer of excellent capacity, of strict probity, 
who had served in a judicial office of high grade as an upright 
judge. ISTone doubted the fitness of the appointment, and none 
feared for his future. In the course of a few months it was 
found, however, that he had been honest because he had not 
been tempted ; he was discovered to be a bribe-taker, who had 
received money almost immediately upon his entrance upon the 
duties of his place. Within the short period of but sixty or 
ninety days thereafter he had corruptly and illegally received 
pay to the amount of about seventeen thousand dollars. "I 
learn, with great pain and regret," says Secretary Chase, in a- 
letter written on the 24th of May, 1864, suspending this officer 
while the charges against him were being investigated, " from 
the letters of Assistant Special Agent Heaton, who was directed 
by me to inquire into the truth of reports relating to the course 
of yourself and other agents of the Department on the Missis- 
sippi Eiver, between Memphis and ISTatchez, and including those 
places, that you have been wrongfully connected with cotton 
transactions in yom' district, by the receipt of money for the 
performance of official duties and otherwise. Tou were selected 
for your position because of my personal confidence in your 
integrity and ability, and were made fully aware that, under no 
circumstances, would any officer of the department be allowed 
to derive the least emolument from any transaction over wliieh 
he had any official control or influence. The pain I suffer from 
the delinquency of any officer appointed by me is augmented in 
your case by the disappointment of my personal confidence. I 
shall be glad, indeed, if the allegations affecting you, which now 
seem sufficiently sustained, can be disproved. In the mean time, 
I perform a simple public duty in suspending you from office 

and pay until further notice." I have been informed that , 

shocked and overwhelmed by his disgraceful dismissal, died of 
shame and grief within three months afterward. 



CHAPTEK XXXIY. 

EECOMMEimATIONS OF IIE. CHASE IN RESPECT OF ECONOMY AND 

TAXATION INCOME FKOM TAXES DURING ME. BUCHANAn's 

ADMINISTKATION INTEBNAL EEVENUE AND TARIFF ACTS 

INCOME FEOM THOSE SOUECES EXTEACT8 FEOM LETTEES OF 

ME. CHASE TO ME. FE8SENDEN. 

I]Sr Ms public reports, in official communications to tlie Finance 
Committees of both House and Senate, in private letters, 
and in personal intercourse witb members, Mr. Chase constantly 
and earnestly nrged upon Congress two paramount duties — 
economy and taxation. But the immediate imposition of enor- 
mous and indiscriminate burdens upon a people whose internal 
trade and foreign commerce were alike paralyzed by the pres- 
ence among them of civil war, did not commend itself to him as 
a wise and just poHcy. The destruction of property throughout 
the free States, consequent upon the election of Mr. Lincoln 
and the breaking out of hostilities, had been immense.* Thou- 

' Many persons of large wealth, in apprehension of war, had, even before the 
breaking out of hostilities, transferred their property to foreign countries. The 
object is obvious enough : it was to escape not only the pressure of the war taxes, 
but also to preserve their opulence, should the result of the war prove unfavorable 
to the national cause. The taxable property transferred to Europe aggregated mill- 
ions. One of the patriots who thus moved his estate out of harm's way, afterward 
addressed Mr. Chase a long letter, advising him to a terrific scheme of taxation, 
and, generally, how to manage the finances ! This letter was lately printed in a New 
York evening newspaper, by way of criticism upon Mr. Chase's methods of adminis- 
tration. The grim loyalty of Artemus Ward vented itself in a proposition to send 
all his wife's relations to the war ; and there were plenty of people whose loyalty — 
of a like kmd — engaged itself in schemes for taxing the property of their neighbors. 
If all those who talked and wrote about taxation had been as prompt and honest to 
pay, the revenues of the Government would have been many millions larger than 
they were. 



PUBLIC CREDIT AND TAXATION. 33X 

sands of ITortlieni mercliants, prosperous and opulent before, 
found themselves in tlie midst of ruined commerce and for- 
tunes. Southern journals exultinglj proclaimed that grass 
would grow in the streets of Northern cities ; and it was 
indeed certain that a hundi*ed thousand workmen were sud- 
denly thrown out of productive emj^loyments ; prices were de- 
pressed ; the currency of the country was so disordered and un- 
equal as to have no uniform value or credit. The coin cu-cula- 
tion was limited ; wholly insufficient for the public wants. 
The first duty of a Secretary of the Treasury, who was both 
a statesman and a financier, was therefore to reform the cur- 
rency and give to the countiy a sound and uniforai instrument 
of exchange ; and, secondly, to give time and all practicable 
assistance to the recovery and reinvigoration of prostrated in- 
dustries and commerce, not further to oppress them by ill-timed 
assessments. Mi*. Chase, however, never lost sight of the 
fundamental tnith that in " every sound system of finance ade- 
quate provision by taxation for the prompt discharge of all 
ordinary demands, for the punctual payment of the interest on 
loans, and for the creation of a gradually-increasing fund for 
the redemption of the principal of the public debt, is indis- 
pensable. Public credit can only be supported by public faith, 
and public faith can only be maintained by an economical, 
energetic, and pnident administration of public affairs, and by 
the prompt and punctual fulfillment of every public obligation." 
But in the same report from which these words are taken, IsIt. 
Chase said that he foresaw the difficulties of the task before 
him — difficulties always considerable, even in time of peace, 
" but now augmented and multiplied beyond measure, by an 
insurrection which deranged commerce, accumulated expendi- 
tm-es, necessitated taxes, embarrassed industry, depreciated prop- 
erty, crippled enterprise, and frustrated progress." 'Nor must 
it be forgotten that at the beginning of the rebellion, scarcely 
any one looked forward to a long war ; he who, believing that 
it would be either protracted or desperate, dared to express his 
belief, was suspected of sympathy with treason or of unsound- 
ness of mind ! Mr. Chase, Uke most of the public men of the 
period, had no approximate conception of the magnitude or du- 
ration of the conflict upon wliich the country had entered. Pre- 



332 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

vious to tlie meeting of Congress in July, 1861, it was tlie con- 
fident belief of the Federal authorities that 300,000 men would 
be ample to destroy any force the Confederated States might be 
able to bring into the field ; but in order to make the contest 
short and decisive the President thought it expedient to ask for 
400,000 men, and Congress, in a fit of fervor, voted 500,000 ! 
When this was done, and in addition it was resolved to devote 
four hundi'ed milKons of money to military and naval purposes, 
there was a thrill of exultation throughout the ISTorth, and the 
work of the war was believed to be abeady haK accomplished. 
These preparations were thought to be not only ample, but ex- 
cessive ; and how much effect they had in stimulating the Con- 
federate authorities to larger efforts than they otherwise would 
have made, is now beyond mortal ken. Mr. Chase participated 
in the almost universal belief that they were at least sufficient, 
and relied upon the judgment of General Scott that witli them 
the war might be ended in a single year. Under that convic- 
tion, and persuaded at the same time that it would be impolitic 
immediately to impose excessive burdens, he proposed to raise 
in the first year eighty millions by taxes. If the extreme pros- 
tration of the business interests of the country be borne in mind, 
and the important fact that the largest sum — exclusive of loans 
— ever collected from the people in any one year, and that a 
year of unusual apparent prosperity (1856), was but a fraction 
over seventy-four millions ($74,056,699.21), it will be conceded 
that Mr. Chase recommended the highest safe limit. It is im- 
portant to remember also, that the income of the Government 
from all the sources of pennanent revenue, during the four 
fiscal years of Mr. Buchanan's Administration, was but a frac- 
tion over $225,000,000. In 1857 it had been $68,965,312 ; in 
1858, $46,655,365 ; in 1859, $53,486,465 ; and in 1860 it was 
$56,054,599. The income from the same sources during the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1861 — eight months of which were 
passed imder the Administration of Mr. Buchanan and four 
under that of Mr. Lincoln— was but $41,476,299. The income 
from loans and Treasury notes during the years 1858, 1859, 
1860, and 1861, was $114,686,900, of which $41,895,300 was 
derived dm-ing the fiscal year ending June 30, 1861. The 
income from customs dm^ing the last quarter of 1 861 was but 



TRADE AND PRODUCTION. 333 

$5,515,000 ! From tliis brief statement, it is apparent tliat if 
tlie Government had been dependent for support upon income 
from taxes, it would have been in imminent danger of a collapse 
even in a period of unhealtby peace. 

During the months intervening between the extra session of 
Congress in July and the regular session beginning in Decem- 
ber, 1861, the vision of the Government and of the people took 
in a wider range ; and the vast field of the war began measu- 
rably to be seen and understood. Meantime there had been 
some improvement in trade and production, although the 
army had absorbed into its ranks three-quarters of a million of 
active business and professional inen, artisans and laborers ; and 
already there was extensive waste, and improvidence in both 
the military and civil administration. Mr. Chase earnestly 
urged economy. " The first great object of reflection and en- 
deavor," he said in his report, submitted December 9th, " should 
be the reduction of expenditure within the narrowest possible 
limits. Ketrenchment and reform are among the indispensable 
duties of the hour. Contracts for supplies, as well as for public 
work of all descriptions, should be subjected to strict super- 
vision and the contractors to rigorous responsibility. All un- 
necessary offices should be abolished, and salaries and pay 
should be materially reduced. In these ways the burdens of 
the people, imposed by the war, may be sensibly lightened ; 
and the saving thus eifected will be worth more in beneficial 
effect and influence than the easiest acquisition of equal sums 
even without cost or liability to repayment." But whatever 
might be saved by retrenchment, large smns must still be pro- 
vided for by taxation and loans. Mr. Chase said that in a 
former report he had stated the principles by which, as he con- 
ceived, the proportion of taxation and loans should be deter- 
mined. Reflection had confirmed his opinion that adequate 
provision by taxation for ordinary expenditures, for prompt 
payment of interest on the public debt, existing and authorized, 
and for the gradual extinction of the principal, is indispensable 
to any sound system of finance. " The idea of perpetual debt 
is not of American nativity, and should not be naturalized. If, 
at any time, the exacting emergencies of war constrain to tem- 
porary departure from the principle of adequate taxation, the 



334 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

first moments of retmiimg tranquillity sliould be devoted to its 
reestabliskment in full supremacy over the financial administra- 
tion of affairs." Existing circumstances were not propitious, 
however, to a wise and permanent adjustment of imposts to the 
various demands of revenue, commerce, and home industry. 
" The most sacred duty of the American people, at this moment," 
he said, " requires the consecration of all their energies and all 
their resources to the reestablishment of the Union on the per- 
manent foundations of justice and freedom ; and while foreign 
nations look with indifferent or unfriendly eyes upon this work, 
sound pohcy would seem to suggest not the extension of foreign 
trade, but a more absolute reliance upon American labor, 
American skill, and American soil. Freedom of commerce is, 
indeed, a noble policy ; but to be wise or noble, it must be the 
policy of concordant and fraternal nations." 

In addition to some modifications of the duties already laid 
upon teas, coffees, and sugars — increasing them considerably — the 
Secretary proposed to raise twenty millions from direct taxes to be 
imposed upon the loyal States alone ; and in addition to the tax 
of tln'ee per centum a year already levied upon incomes in excess 
of $800 a year, which he estimated would produce ten millions, 
he proposed to lay such duties on stills and distilled liquors, on 
tobacco, on bank-notes, on carriages, on legacies, on paper evi- 
dences of debt and instruments for conveyance of property, and 
other like subjects of taxation, as would produce twenty mill- 
ions. The aggregate to be derived from these several sources 
of internal taxation he estimated at fifty millions of dollars. 
He did not feel warranted in estimating the income for the year 
from customs and miscellaneous sources at more than forty 
millions ; the total to be raised by taxation, direct and indirect, 
was therefore ninety millions ; a large sum under the circum- 
stances of the country. The internal revenue act of Julyl, 
1862, was the fruit of these recommendations ; and by it the tax 
on incomes was increased to five per cent, upon all in excess of 
$10,000 a year, and was continued at three per cent, upon all in- 
comes below that sum and more than $600 a year. His estimate 
of income from customs was, however, incorrect. There hap- 
pened so rapid and extraordinary a revival in commerce that 
the receipts for the fiscal year 1862 aggregated $49,056,397.62. 



INCOME FROM TAXES. 335 

In his report of December 4, 1862, the Secretary recom- 
mended no f urtlier modifications in tlie tariff or internal revenue 
duties, and estimated tlie income to be derived from both for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1863, at $220,000,000 ; 870,000,000 
from customs and $150,000,000 from internal revenues. He 
thought the yearly expenditm*es for the peace establishment, 
pensions, and interest on the public debt, at and after that time 
would be $105,000,000, if the public debt should not exceed his 
estimate of $1,122,000,000. 

If the war should continue through to the midsummer of 
1861, the annual expenditures for the same objects (estimating 
the debt at $1,750,000,000) would thereafter be $165,000,000, 
leaving a surplus of $55,000,000 a year, or more than thi-ee 
per cent, of the debt (and increasing in proportion as the 
principal was diminished) applicable to the pm-poses of a sink- 
ing; fund. The actual income from internal and customs du- 
ties, and miscellaneous sources, for the year ending June 30, 
1863, was, however, but $111,396,766 ; and the public debt at 
the same date was $1,119,772,138.63. The income for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1864, was — ^from internal revenue, 
$109,741,134.10 ; from customs, $102,316,152.99 ; from miscella- 
neous sources, $30.291,701.86 ; from direct taxes, $475,648.96 ; 
from public lands, $588,333.29 ; making a total from all sources, 
exclusive of loans and Treasury notes, of $243,412,971.20. The 
public debt on the 1st of July, 1864, was $1,740,690,489.49. 
Of course no part of the income from any source could be ap- 
plied in reduction of the debt in the presence of vast demands 
for the continuance of the war. 

It was supposed that the joint resolution of the 29th of 
April, 1864, which added to the duties on imports fifty per cent., 
would have an immediate large effect in increasing the receipts 
from customs. The results did not realize expectations. The 
income from revenue for the year ending June 30, 1865, was 
but $84,928,260. This was due largely to the extraordinary 
fluctuations in gold between the 1st of April, 1864, and the 
end of the fiscal year 1865 ; the price ranging, as we have seen 
in a former chapter, between 288 and 130. The internal re- 
ceipts for the fiscal year 1865 were $209,464,215.25. There 
was a very great increase in succeeding years, alike in the in- 



336 



LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 



come from customs and from internal revenue, as tlie following 
table will show : * 



Tears. 


From Customa. 


From Internal Keyenue. 


From all Sources. 


1866 


$179,046,651.58 
176,417,810.88 
164,464,599.56 
180,048,426.63 
194,538,374.44 


$309,226,813.42 
206,027,537.43 
191,087,589.41 
158,356,460.86 
184,899,756.49 


$519,949,564.38 


1867 


462,846,679.92 


1868 


376,434,453.82 


1869 


357,188,256.09 


1870 


395,959,833.87 







It is important to remember that the acts under wbich tbese 
great yearly sums were derived to tlie Government, were passed 
during the administration of Mr. Chase, and that he was more 
or less constantly in consultation with the congressional com- 
mittees having special charge of the tariii and internal revenue 
bills which afterward became laws, and gave them a cordial and 
effective support. There were various modifications of the acts 
after his resignation, but they did not materially increase, though 
at a later date they did materially decrease, the smns derived 
from internal revenue. In this, as in aU other of his public acts, 
Mr. Chase shrank from no duty." It is not likely that severer 

* The totals here given mclude sums derived from miscellaneous sources, sales 
of public lands, and the like, which are omitted in the table. 

^ " The first duty of the republic to its soldiers and sailors," said Mr. Chase in 
a letter to Mr. Fessenden, on the 11th of January, 1864, "are prompt payments and 
sure supplies. Payments cannot be prompt nor supplies sure if appropriations 
exceed the probability of certain provision. The estimates heretofore submitted 
require from loans for the last seven months of the fiscal year 1864, $352,226,539, 
or $50,318,079 a month. If vigor, and decision, and earnestness in the work of 
suppressing the rebellion shall be attended with marked progress toward its consum- 
mation, these large sums and the additional sums required for bounties, can prob- 
ably be obtained at reasonable rates. But the whole of these sums, as well as every 
other amount added to expenditure beyond estimates, should be raised by taxation. 
No uncertainty can be safely allowed to attend upon the question of prompt pay- 
ment. Delay of payment and doubts as to its certainty chill the ardor of the best 
soldiers, create dissatisfaction in the minds of dealers with the Government, enhance 
prices of supplies, and invite deterioration of their quality. I trust, therefore, that 
the Committee on Finance will accompany any report that may be made on the reso- 
lutions referred to it with some resolutions pledging the faith of Congress to raise 
by taxation, beyond $161,586,500 heretofore estimated as the proportion of this 
year's disbursements to be provided in this mode, every dollar which may be appro- 
priated beyond the estimates submitted at the commencement of this session. All 
considerations of economy and prudence require this legislation. It will be impos- 



TAXATION. 331J' 

taxation than was imposed would have been patiently borne ; 
nor that any judicious statesman would have imposed heavier 
duties. There was enough suffering among the laboring-classes 
as it was ; for it may be laid down as a safe rule, that he who 
has no commodity to sell except his labor, will, at the last, bear 
far the greater share of the public burdens. 

sible much longer to raise large sums by loans unless large sums are also raised 
by taxation. In the report submitted by me to Congress at the beginning of the 
session I ventured to say, ' It is hardly too much, perhaps hardly enough, to say that 
every dollar raised for extraordinary expenditures or reduction of debt is worth two 
in the increased value of the national securities and increased facihties for the nego- 
tiation of indispensable loans.' Reflection and observation since have satisfied me 
that under our present circumstances the remark is an understatement of the truth." 
A few weeks later he again addressed Mr. Fessenden : " I have already frequently 
expressed to you my conviction that expenses and taxes should be brought into such 
relations that at least one-half the former may be defrayed from income derived 
from the latter." 
22 



CHAPTEK XXXY. 

LOAN ACTS OF CONGRESS FRACTIONAL CUEEENCT — THE "SEVEN- 
THIRTY NATIONAL loan" OF 1861 THE " FIVE-TWENTIES " 

PROBABLE RESULTS OF OFFERING THEM TO CAPITALISTS — 

NINETY-SEVEN TO NINETY-EIGHT CENTS FOR THE DOLLAR 

DECLINES TO SUBMIT TO SUCH A LOSS ^APPOINTS A GENERAL 

SUBSCRIPTION AGENT BRILLIANT SUCCESS OF THE AGENCY 

THE "ten-forties" FAIL SOME FACTS ABOUT THE WAR — 

SUMMARY. 

T HE whole income of the Treasury from taxes, both customs 
and internal, during the administration of Mr. Chase, was 
but $429,750,969.51 ; a small sum relatively to the enormous ex- 
penditures made in the prosecution of the war. Its main support 
was derived from loans ; if Congress failed to tax, it was prodi- 
gal in the powers it conferred upon the Secretary to borrow 
money. The various acts by which authority was given him to 
negotiate loans may be thus summarized : 

July lY, 1861. This act authorized the Secretary to borrow 
$250,000,000, and to issue in exchange for borrowed money 
bonds of the United States irredeemable until after twenty years 
at a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent. Or in lieu of 
such bonds. Treasury notes of not less than $50 each, payable in 
three years with interest at Y-30 per cent. ; or, secondly, Treas- 
ury notes of a less denomination than $50 but not less than $10, 
bearing no interest, but payable on demand in coin by the As- 
sistant Treasurers at Philadelphia, 'New York, and Boston ; or, 
thirdly. Treasury notes of still another class, to bear interest at 
3-65 per annum payable in one year from date, and exchangeable 



SUMMARY OF LOAN ACTS. 339 

into Treasury notes of tlie first class at tlie option of the liolder. 
The notes of the second class — afterward known as the "de- 
mand notes " — were limited in amount to $50,000,000 and were 
intended to circulate as money. The Secretary was required to 
open books for subscription to the Y-30 notes in the principal 
cities and towns of the country. 

August 5, 1861. This act was supplemental to that of July 
17th, and authorized the Secretary to issue six per cent, bonds 
in sums not less than $500, redeemable after twenty years. The 
aggregate of these twenty years' bonds was not to exceed the ag- 
gregate of the 7-30 three yeai^s' notes issued under authority of 
the act of July ; the design being to fund the 7-30' s into long 
bonds. And authority was at the same time conferred upon the 
Secretary to negotiate any portion of the loans authorized by the 
act of July by issuing six per cent, bonds so reduced as to make 
them equivalent to seven per cents. 

February 25, 1862. The Secretary was authorized to emit 
$150,000,000 of United States legal-tender notes, in denomina- 
tions of $5 and upward ; which notes were to be received the 
same as coin, at par value, in payment of loans made by the 
Government; and for the purpose of funding Treasury notes 
and the floating debt of the United States, the Secretaiy was 
authorized to issue $500,000,000 six per cent, coin-interest-bear- 
ing bonds, redeemable after five years at the pleasure of the 
Government and payable in twenty. These were the bonds 
afterward familiarly called the " five-twenties." 

March 1, 1862. The Secretary was authorized to issue "cer- 
tificates of indebtedness " in satisfaction of audited and settled 
demands against the Government. 'No limit was placed upon the 
aggregate amount of these certificates ; and by the act of March 
17, 1862, the Secretary was authorized to issue such certificates 
in satisfaction of checks drawn by disbursing officers against 
sums standing to their credit upon the books of the Treasury. 

July 11, 1862. Authorized a further emission of United 
States legal-tender notes, to the amount of $150,000,000. 

March 3, 1863. This act was commonly called the " 'Nine 
hundred million loan act," and according to Mr. E. G. Spauld- 
ing * " conferred more discretionary powers upon the Secretary of 
* "History of the Legal Tender Paper Money of the Rebellion," p. 167. 



340 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the Treasury tlian were ever before granted by law to a finance 
minister." It authorized, for the then current fiscal year, loans 
to the amount of three hundred millions of dollars ; and for the 
fiscal year beginning July 1, 1863, and ending June 30, 1804, 
loans to an aggregate of six hundred millions — and to issue 
bonds redeemable after ten and payable forty years from date, 
to bear interest not exceeding six per cent. ; both principal 
and interest payable in coin. But, in lieu of long bonds, he was 
authorized to issue not more than $400,000,000 of Treasury 
notes, payable not later than three years from date, or earlier, 
"as might be found most beneficial to the public interests," to 
bear interest not exceeding six per cent, payable in lawful 
money. These notes might " be made a legal-tender to the same 
extent as United States notes, for their face value, excluding in- 
terest," if the Secretary should think advisable ; and were to be 
exchangeable also for United States notes, in equal amounts, 
with interest added up to the date at which the last preceding 
interest payment became due. By the third section, an addi- 
tional emission of $150,000,000 United States legal-tender notes 
was authorized, " if r-equired by the exigencies of the public ser- 
vice, for the pa}Tiient of the army and navy and other creditors 
of the Government." 

March 3, 1864. The Secretary was authorized, in lieu of so 
much of the loans authorized by the act of March 3, 1863, to make 
a loan of $200,000,000 for the then current fiscal year, and to 
issue bonds redeemable after five and within forty years at the 
pleasure of the Government, principal and interest payable in 
coin, and to bear interest not exceeding six per cent, per annum ; 
to be free from taxation by or under State authority. 

June 30, 1864. Authorized a loan of $400,000,000, and the 
issue of bonds redeemable after five and within thirty years, or 
if thought more expedient, payable at any period not farther 
distant than forty years from date, with interest at a rate not ex- 
ceeding six per cent, payable in coin. But in place of an equal 
amount of these bonds, not exceeding $200,000,000, the Secre- 
tary was authorized to issue Treasury notes in denominations of 
not less than $10, redeemable at any time after three years at an 
interest not exceeding seven and three-tenths per cent., payable 
in lawful money at maturity or semi-annually, at the discretion of 



FRACTIONAL CURRENCY. 341 

the Secreta.^ . Such of these notes as were made payable, prin- 
cipal and interest, at maturity, were at the same time made a 
legal tender to the same extent as United States notes at their face 
value, excluding interest. In the second section of this act a 
pledge was made that the total amount of the United States 
notes issued, or to be issued, should never exceed $400,000,000, ' 
and such additional sum, not exceeding $50,000,000, as might 
temporarily be required for the redemption of temporary loans ; 
but no Treasury note bearing interest, issued under the author- 
ity of this act, was to be a legal tender in payment or redemp- 
tion of any notes issued by any bank, banking association, or 
banker, calculated or intended to circulate as money. 

The foregoing comprised the several loan acts passed up to 
the 30th of June, 1864, the date at which Mr. Chase resigned 
the Treasury. Besides these, however, were the fractional cur- 
rency acts. An immediate consequence of the suspension of 
specie payments by the banks and Government in December, 

1861, was the astonishingly rapid disappearance of the coin cir- 
culation both large and small. Great inconvenience followed, 
and to supply the universal necessity for change, small notes and 
tokens were issued in such large quantities by individuals and 
corporations, and by cities and towns, as seriously to involve the 
credit even of the Government issues. Mr. Chase early observed 
this tendency, and urged the prompt action of Congress to avert 
the evil. Accordingly, by. an act approved on the 17th of July, 

1862, he was authorized to issue in exchange for legal-tender 
notes, "postage and other stamps of the United States," and 
after the 1st day of August then next following, such stamps 
were to be received in payment of all dues to the United States 
less than five dollars ; and the same act prohibited the issue of 
any notes or tokens, or other obligations, by either persons or 
corporations, intended to circulate as money, under severe pen- 
alties of both fine and imprisonment. Experience showed, how- 
ever, that the use of stamps was practically inconvenient, and 
Mr. Chase recommended to Congress that a fractional currency 
should be substituted. This was done accordingly by the act of 
March 3, 1863, which authorized an emission of fractional cur- 
rency — not exceeding a total of $50,000,000 — exchangeable for 
United States notes in sums not less than three dollars, and re- 



342 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ceivable for any dues to the Government less tlian five dollars, 
except duties on imports. Authority was at tlie same time given 
to engrave and print tliis currency in the Treasury Department. 
Mr. Chase availed himself of the authority thus conferred with 
very little delay, and to great public advantage. On the 20th 
of June, 1864 — ^ten days before his resignation — the outstand- 
ing fractional currency amounted to $21,817,158.10. At the time 
this volume goes to press, the amount in circulation is about 
$45,000,000. 

How far Mr. Chase availed himseK of the authorities con- 
ferred by the several loan-acts cited above, appears from the 
public debt statement made by him on the 30th of June, 1864, 
as follows : 

There were outstanding at that date six per cent, twenty 
years' bonds issued under the acts of July ITth and August 
5th, 1861, a total of $80,643,600 ; of six per cent. " five-twen- 
ties" authorized February 25, 1862, $510,780,500; of five per 
cent, "ten-forties" authorized March 3, 1863, $73,337,750; 
of " seven-thirties " three years' Treasury notes authorized July 
17, 1861, $109,356,150. The interest on these was payable in 
coin. There were outstanding at the same date currency inter- 
est-bearing securities as follows : Six per cent, certificates of 
indebtedness authorized March 3, 1862, $160,729,000 ; of five 
per cent, one-year notes authorized March 3, 1863, $44,520,000 ; 
of five per cent, two years' notes authorized by the same act, 
$108,951,450 ; and of six per cent, compound-interest-bearing 
Treasury notes, authorized March 3, 1863, $15,000,000. . 

When Mr. Chase negotiated the first loan with the associated 
banks of Kew York, Boston, and Philadelphia, in July, 1861, of 
$50,000,000 for three years' " seven-thirty " Treasury notes, one 
of his stipulations with the banks was, that he would open sub- 
scriptions throughout the country for the sale and distribution 
of the notes by agents acting imder the direct supervision of the 
Treasury Department. It was intended, of course, that the 
proceeds of sales should be paid to the banks in reimbursement 
of their advances to the Government, in order to secure the 
prompt taking by them of a second loan of $50,000,000. In 
fulfilhnent of this stipulation, and in addition to the Assistant 
Treasurers and other regular officers of the department, Mr. 



SEYEN-THIETY LOANS OF 1861. 343 

Chase appointed one linndred and f orty-eiglit agents, to receive 
subscriptions to the " seven-thirty " national loan, as it was called, 
and supplied them with the necessary printed forms and blanks 
to enable them promptly to transact their business with the 
Treasury. In addition to the expenses incurred in these prepa- 
rations, and of the necessarily increased force of clerks employed 
in his own office, the Secretary paid to the subscription agents 
one-fifth of one per cent, on the first one hundred thousand dollars 
obtained by them respectively, and one-eighth of one per cent, 
upon all sums in excess; and allowed for advertising a stipu- 
lated sum, varying according to locality, but in no case exceeding 
one hundi-ed and fifty dollars. These one hundred and forty- 
eight agents returned subscriptions amounting to an aggregate 
of $24,678,866. The Assistant Treasurers and designated deposi- 
taries of the department sold a portion of the remainder of the 
loan, but a deficiency of some millions was made up by deliver- 
ing seven-thirty notes directly to the banks for their own distri- 
bution. The practical inconveniences of a " popular loan " con- 
ducted under the supervision of the Treasury officers were 
found to be too great to warrant a continuance of the system ; 
the accounts of the subscription agents were therefore closed ; and 
when the second loan of $50,000,000 was negotiated, the " sev- 
en-thirties " were paid to the banks, and the banks themselves 
supplied them to the people. But the sales were unsatisfactory, 
and when Mr. Chase applied to the associated banks for a third 
loan of $50,000,000, they declined to make it upon the " seven- 
thirties." The acts authorizing a " national loan " (July lY and 
August 6, 1861) had empowered the Secretary to negotiate six 
per cent, bonds with such a deduction from their face value as 
would make them the equivalent to seven per cent, bonds, re- 
deemable after twenty years, disposed of at par. Mr. Chase 
was extremely reluctant to make use of this power ; but the 
military and naval exigencies of the time were inexorable, and 
he submitted to what he could not avoid : $50,000,000 in six 
per cent, bonds were equal to $45,Y95,4T8.48 in seven per cent, 
bonds redeemable after twenty years, and the Secretary delivered 
to the banks fifty millions of six per cent, twenty years' bonds 
for $45,795,478.48 in money. 

These three loans, with the "demand-notes" issued under 



344 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

authority of the act of July 17, 1861, and some means derived 
from temporary loans, carried the Government through to the 
end of February, 1862. The legal-tender Act of the 25th of that 
month, and of the 11th of July following, supplied the Treasury 
with $300,000,000 immediately available ; the temporary loans 
were large ; certificates of indebtedness were paid to such public 
creditors as were willing to receive them ; and there were more 
or less steady conversions into seven-thirties. Some small sales 
had been made of the bonds commonly known as the " five- 
twenties," authorized by the act of the 25th of February, 1862 ; 
although the whole sum outstanding on the 30th of September, 
1862, was but a little over two and a half millions of dollars 
($2,539,000). Indeed, when this loan was authorized by Con- 
gress, many able and experienced financial men expressed their 
belief that it would be impossible to negotiate bonds redeemable 
after so short a period as five years and bearing an interest of 
only six per cent., and for a long time appearances seemed to 
verify this belief, for they were decidedly against the success of 
the loan. 

Under the law every holder of United States notes had a 
right to convert them at his pleasure into the five-twenty bonds 
at par. " A privilege which can be used at any time," said Mr. 
Chase, " is often not used at all, and it soon became clear that 
voluntary conversions would supply only a small proportion of 
the large siuns required for the disbursements of the war." 
The military disasters before Richmond and less important ones 
elsewhere, had most injuriously affected the financial condition. 
There were vast expenditures growing out of a large increase of 
the army authorized by Congress and directed by the President, 
which had made exhausting demands on all available resources. 
The actual payments from the Treasury, other than for principal 
of the public debt, during the fiscal quarter ending September 
30, 1862, amounted to $111,084,446; during the month of 
October they were $49,243,846, and during the month of No- 
vember so large a sum as $59,847,077 ; while the accumulation of 
requisitions beyond resources amounted to $48,354,700. Mr. 
Chase had souo-ht to stimulate conversions of United States notes 
into five-twenties by authorizing the sub-treasurers, designated 
depositaries, and special agents to receive deposits of notes and 



THE FIVE-TWENTY LOAN. 345 

issue certificates entitling tlie depositors to bonds bearing interest 
from the date of deposit. Still, conversions lagged, and were 
altogether inadequte to the immense demands upon the Treas- 
ury. But the necessity remained that these demands should be 
met with the least possible delay, and the Secretaiy, with a view 
to prompt relief, endeavored to ascertain the best tenns on 
which the bonds could be negotiated by sales. He caused care- 
ful inquiry to be made through Mr. Cisco, the Assistant Treas- 
urer at Kew York, and other experienced gentlemen, and it was 
ascertained that negotiations could not be effected at higher 
rates than from ninety-seven to ninety-eight cents for a dollar, 
which would involve a loss on each hundred millions of the loan 
of from two to three millions. 

The Secretary was unwilhng to submit to this loss ; and ac- 
• cordingly, in October, 1862, he determined to appoint a general 
subscription agent, with authority to appoint sub-agents through- 
out the country, for whom the general agent would be personally 
responsible, and in this way organize a direct appeal to the 
whole people. For this important and responsible post he select- 
ed Jay Cooke, of Philadelphia, and committed the whole work 
of supervision to that gentleman. It was agi'eed that the com- 
missions of the general agent, for services and to cover disburse- 
ments in promoting the loan, should be one half of one per 
cent, on the first ten millions and three-eighths of one per cent, 
on subscriptions beyond that amount. Of these three-eighths the 
general agent bomid himself to pay one-eighth to sub-agents, 
another eighth to traveling agents, and for advertising and the 
other expenses necessary to make the loan as widely and favor- 
ably known as possible. One-eighth was to be retained as com- 
pensation for his own labor and risk, and for expenses charge- 
able to his own proportion of the loan. His responsibility cov- 
ered all the acts of his sub-agents until payment into the 
Treasury of all moneys subscribed, and delivery to subscribers 
of all bonds subscribed for. No liability and no duty, "except 
that of furnishing the bonds, was assumed by the Government ; 
while to insure the faithful performance of the duty of the 
general agent and the full satisfaction of all demands upon him- 
self and his sub-agents, bonds were required and given in an 
aggregate sum of six hundred thousand dollars. But notwith- 



346 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

standing the magnitude of tlie task imposed upon liim, tlie 
general agent liad no monopoly in the disposal of the loan. 
■The Treasurer of the United States, the Assistant Treasurers, 
and the several designated depositaries, were also directed by 
the Secretary to use their best endeavors to obtain subscriptions, 
and were authorized to allow one-eighth, and in some cases one- 
fourth of one per cent, to purchasers for resale. 

The general agent proceeded at once to organize a general 
system of agencies. But for a time the result was not encourag- 
ing. "When, however, by the act of Congress of March 3, 1863, 
the absolute right to convert legal tenders was limited * to the 
1st of July, 1863, and the system of sub-agencies had been 
thoroughly organized and extended throughout the country, 
subscriptions gradually increased, until at length, within a pe- 
riod of less than eighteen months, the whole loan was absorbed 
by the people, without disturbance to either commercial or in- 
dustrial interests. ITot only was the whole loan taken, but sub- 
scriptions were made on the day it was finally closed, for nearly 
eleven millions of dollars in excess of the amount authorized ; 
which excess was afterward legalized by Congress, but for the 
procuring of which the general agent was allowed no compen- 
sation. 

It is impossible, of course, here to exhibit in detail the whole 
circumstances of this loan. The number of sub-agents em- 
ployed was about 2,500 : the work of the agency extended into 
almost every county and town of the loyal States and among 
all classes of the population ; its fniits were subscriptions for 
five-twenty bonds amounting in the aggregate to the sum of 
$361,952,950, and with these subscriptions the Treasury was en- 
abled to pay the army and navy, and the general creditors of the 
Government, vdth a degree of promptness which at least pre- 
served its credit. But the benefit of the work was not limited 
by its direct results ; for the interest in the loan, excited by the 
efforts of the general agent and his sub-agents, operated very 
powerfully upon subscriptions made with Assistant Treasurers 
and the designated depositaries. These subscriptions amounted 

' That is, it was left by law in the discretion of the Secretary to limit the period 
of absolute right to convert to July 1, 1863, but Mr. Chase never made use of the 
power conferred upon him. 



THE FIVE-TWENTY LOAN. 347 

to an aggregate of $148,823,500, of whicli $92,178,300 were 
subscribed by purcliasers for resale, and $56,6'45,200 for direct 
investment. The whole compensation to tbe general agent and 
the sub-agents for services and expenses, was $1,350,013.15, of 
which sum $435,700.31 was paid to the general agent as compen- 
sation for responsibility, for services, and for expenses charge- 
able upon the one-eighth allowed to him. To the cost of the 
agencies, in order to ascertain the total expenses of the loan, must 
be added the commissions allowed to purchasers for resale by 
the Assistant Treasurers and other officers of the Government : 
these commissions amounted to $122,190.39 ; making the entire 
cost of the whole loan $1,472,203.54. This cost is a little less 
than three-tenths of one per cent., or eighteen days' interest, on 
the whole amount ; which, it is believed, is less than the cost of 
any other great loan, American or English, ever negotiated either 
before or since. It was believed by Mr. Chase — upon the most 
trustworthy information at his command — that the best terms 
he could hope for, in the case of negotiating $50,000,000 of the 
five-twenty loan with capitalists in the ordinary way, would be 
97 to 98 cents for a dollar ; and there was every reason to be- 
lieve that upon the additional sums required to complete the 
loan, he' would have been compelled to submit to much more 
disadvantageous rates. Had he negotiated $50,000,000 at 97|- 
per cent., the cost of one-tenth of the loan would have been 
$1,250,000, a sum nearly equal to the whole actual cost of the 
entire loan of $510,776,450 upon the plan adopted by the Secre- 
taiy. Had he attempted and succeeded in negotiating the whole 
of the loan with capitahsts at an average discount of 2|- per 
cent., the whole cost would have been of course $12,500,000.* 

Up to the first day of May, 1863, but sixty-four milhons of 
the five-twenty loan had been sold ; during the last nine months 
succeeding it was sold at an average rate of forty-eight and 
four-ninths millions per month ; in the last month rising to fifty- 
three and seven-tenths millions." Add to this aggregate other 
loans made by the Treasury in various f onus during the same 

' See letter of Mr. Chase to Speaker of the House of Representatives, April 6, 1864. 

' The day before the loan closed the subscriptions were about four millions ; on 
the last day, January 21, 1864, they were over sixteen millions ! The number of 
subscribers, from beginning to end, was over 700,000. 



348 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

period — amounting to about sixty-five millions — and tlie re- 
sources of the people diverted from tlie ordinary channels of 
business into the custody of the Govermnent for about nine 
months averaged fifty-five and a half millions monthly. 

But economy merely in the cost of placing the loan was not 
the only advantage attending upon the general agency system. 
Other and incidental benefits of an important kind grew out of 
it. The sub-agents were mostly responsible heads of banking 
firms or of chartered banking institutions, located in nearly 
all the populous towns in the Federal States, who practically 
loaned the use of aU their banking facilities to the Government 
and to purchasers of the loan. If the Department had under- 
taken to distribute the bonds to subscribers, even after the sub- 
scriptions were obtained, a large and costly increase in clerical 
force would have been necessary ; and even then ofiicial formali- 
ties and legal limitations of action would have presented insur- 
mountable obstacles in the way of prompt and satisfactory dis- 
tribution. A distant officer could only have sold bonds for 
legal-tender notes actually paid, and an adequate supply of legal 
tenders was not always to be obtained at the place of purchase. 
The general agent had that freedom from severe official restric- 
tions which enabled him to accept bills of exchange and checks 
from sub-agents, and to place their proceeds in legal -tender notes 
with very little delay, at such points as were most convenient 
to the Government. The single control of the loan operations 
gave Mr. Cooke power freely to command the resources of all 
parts of the country, without the conflict and confusion likely 
to arise from want of unity and cooperation between officers 
located in different sections. A multitude of widely-separated 
and independent agencies might, and most probably would, 
have engendered antagonisms injurious if not fatal to the 
negotiation ; and divided responsibility would certainly have 
increased the chances of laxity and irregularity, and of possible 
loss to the Government. As it was, no loss resulted, while 
the loan was placed with extraordinary celerity and economy. 
Summed up in a single sentence, the plan was a great and 
splendid success. 

But of course there were sharp criticism and censure, and 
allegations of favoritism and even of corruption, by the partisan 



TEN-FORTY LOAN: ITS FAILURE. 349 

journals, by many bankers, and by some of tbose " statesmen " 
who, in the terrible providences of God, are but too often per- 
mitted to get into the national councils. Influenced principally 
by the clamor of the time, but much also by considerations of 
economy, Mr. Chase now made an important change in the policy 
of his loan operations. By the act of March 3, 1863, he had 
been authorized to negotiate bonds " payable at the pleasure of 
the Government after such periods as should be fixed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, not less than ten nor more than forty 
years fr^m date," at a rate of interest not exceeding six per cent. 
Mr. Chase resolved to offer for popular investment bonds of the 
description authorized by this act, commonly called the " ten- 
forties ; " but he made two important departures from the 
policy he had pm-sued in respect of the five-twenties ; he re- 
duced the rate of interest to five per cent., and trusted to the 
inadequate and cumbrous machinery of the department to dis- 
tribute the loan to the people. He was not successful ; be- 
tween the close of the five-twenty negotiation, Januaiy 21, 
1864, and the date of his resignation, June 30th following — a 
period of five months — the whole sum of ten-forties subscribed 
for was but $Y3,33Y,Y50.' ISTatm-ally, most persons attributed 
the failure to the reduction in the rate of interest, and unques- 
tionably it had a large effect in preventing subscriptions ; but 
there were not wanting, in all the great cities and elsewhere, 
many experienced bankers and others who believed that if the 
Secretary had elected to use the same energetic agency which 
had been so efficient in placing the five-twenties, the negotiation 
of the ten-forties, even at the lesser rate of interest, might have 
been made a success equally rapid and brilHant. 

But the failure of the " ten-forty " loan was only in part due 
to reduction in the rate of interest and the use of inadequate 
agencies for promoting its success. The popular depression 
touching military affairs, at the time that loan was offered, was 
wide-spread and profound; the poHtical situation was critical 
and uncertain ; industrial activity was checked ; speculation was 
rife ; prices were high and fluctuating, which was largely due to 

1 According to Mr. E. G. Spaulding (" History of the Legal Tender Paper Money 
of the Rebellion," p. 190), these bonds were taken chiefly by bankers, because they 
could be used in the organization of national banks. 



350 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the unrestrained and excessive issues of the State banks (in May, 
1864, those issues were, as nearly as the Secretary was able to 
estimate, about $180,000,000) ; the premium on gold was steadily 
advancing ; and the people were restless and discontented. But 
the principal source of financial disorder and of public discon- 
tent was, however, in the miUtary administration. It required no 
prophetic eye clearly to perceive this. What had been wrought 
in the way of military success was far from commensurate with 
the means employed, and after three years of prodigious effort 
the pressure upon the resom*ces of the country was severer than 
at any f omier time. More than a million of men — probably 
1,100,000 — were then under pay, and not half of them were 
within striking distance of the enemy. Where was the other half ? 
A large portion could be accounted for, of course, but of the 
whereabouts of another large portion, nobody knew. Instead of 
resolutely mustering absentees into the ranks, the war-office was 
constantly recruiting new troops. This led to a costly and vicious 
system of bounties, bounty- jumping, perjury, coiTuption, and 
, desertion. The general lack of economy and discipline was 
deplorable. Even at the close of the war, the actual fighting 
armies of the republic were but 262,000 strong ! * 800,000 men 
were in the rear ! 200,000 of these were sick, wounded, and 
prisoners ; nearly 600,000 were engaged ia guarding conquered 
territory, keeping open lines of communication, absent iipon 
fictitious employments, and at home ! In December, 186)^ A 
Mr. Cameron stated the strength of the army at 700,000 men. 
Within a year — ^by December, 1862 — the number had been in- 
creased to an aggregate of probably not less than 1,200,000. 
In this estimate are included all the men under pay at that time, 
whether enlisted for three years or for shorter periods of service. 
From the last-named date to the taking of Richmond, the forces 
were steadily maintained at an aggregate of nearly 1,100,000 
men. Within about fifteen months after that event. Secretary 
Stanton mustered out 1,034,000, and retained 60,000 in the ser- 

' Thus : Under Grant at Richmond, 80,000 ; Sherman at Raleigh, 65,000 ; Seho- 
field in North Carolina, 15,000; Canby at Mobile and in the Southwest, 30,000; 
"Wilson's cavalry in Georgia, 12,000; Stoneman in East Tennessee, 5,000; Thomas 
in Kentucky and East Tennessee, 40,000 ; west of the Mississippi, in Missouri and 
Arkansas, 15,000— total, 262,000, {See Draper's "History of the American Civil 
War," vol. ii., pp. 199, 200.) 



ACTUAL FIGHTING SERVICE. 351 

vice. Making all just deductions for tlie inevitable casualties of 
war, prisoners, absent from sickness and upon necessary business 
of the armies, and for guarding conquered territory and keep- 
ing open lines of communication, and it seems a reasonable con- 
clusion tbat out of 1,100,000 troops, at least 600,000 ' ougbt 
to have been in the front, ready for figliting service. But there 
never was a time when, with even thirty days' preparation, 
though over a million of names were borne upon the army-rolls, 
500,000 could have been made ready for battle. The army 
strength was of course exclusive of the naval arm, and this, at 
the end of the war, comprised about 6Y0 vessels, carrying 4,600 
guns, and employing over 50,000 men. 

That these enormous forces were subsisted with as httle em- 
barrassment and disorder to the finances as actually happened, 
may well excite our special wonder. Much less might have 
happened but for that defect in our political arrangements, 
which — without one single compensating advantage in the way 
of increased energy, efficiency, or economy — makes the war 
and navy administrations independent of the head of the Treas- 
ury. 

The large falling off in the receipts from the sale of long 

* It is worth while to contrast this American method of making war with the 
German method. Within fifty days after the beginning of hostiUties between France 
and Germany in July, 1870, the Government of the latter country had placed 850,000 
combatants upon French soil ; had destroyed the French army and the French Em- 
pire, and lost in kQled and wounded 200,000 men. The surrender at Sedan took 
place on the 4th of September. On the 6th of September this was the disposition 
of the German armies : 240,000 men were marching upon Paris, and the cavalry of 
their advanced guard were already scouring the country within a few days' march of 
the capital. A second army of the same strength was on the Moselle, and kept the 
strongest fortress of France and her largest body of troops closely surrounded; 
100,000 German soldiers held the captured frontier country, and were gradually 
inclosing all the fortified places between the Rhine and Paris ; 160,000 men 
of the Landwehr were on the march from Germany and constantly arriving on the 
theatre of war ; and lastly, over 200,000 troops stood in readiness in Germany to 
replace casualties. On the 19th of September, the German armies in active opera- 
tion were again 800,000 strong, and Paris was encircled by one-third of them ! All 
this was accompUshed by organization and discipline in less than seventy days ! 
But few soldiers, of any rank, were absent ; all who were, were absent from abso- 
lute necessity upon business of the war, or by reason of wounds or sickness, and 
some few as the reward of superior bravery. But none were granted leave as mere 
matter of favor. This, however, was the crying evil in our armies during the re- 
bellion. 



352 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

bonds, and tlie continued undiminislied demands of the war, 
made it necessary for Mr. Chase to resort to the other authori- 
ties conferred upon him by Congress. He somewhat increased 
the outstanding aggregate of legal-tender notes ; he made a 
large use of one and two years' five per cent, legal-tender Treas- 
ury notes, and emitted $17,250,000 three years' six per cent, 
compound-interest-bearing legal-tender Treasury notes. He sold 
also, under the loan act of March 3, 1863, $42,672,000 six pei 
cent, bonds payable after June 30, 1881, at an average pre- 
mnun of 4.13 per cent. Most of these several descriptions of 
securities were issued between the 1st of January and the 30th 
of June, 186-4. They carried the Government successfully 
through to the latter date, being the end of the then current fis- 
cal year, and the last day of Mr. Chase's service as head of the 
Treasury. The use of the five and six per cent. Treasury notes 
(of which he had issued altogether $211,000,000) had the effect 
of a large inflation, but the demands of the war were inexorable, 
and the failure of the " ten-forties " made a temporary resort to 
them unavoidable. He had begun retiring them, however, some 
time before his resignation, and expected to continue their with- 
drawal at the rate of about $10,000,000 a month ; so that, with 
the aid of such legislation as he expected from Congress, and 
activity and energy in the prosecution of the war, he would 
speedily have restored the finances to order and soundness. 



NOTE TO CHAPTER XXXV. 

The following tables exhibit a summary of the loan operations of the 
Treasury during the three fiscal years of Mr. Chase's service as its head, 
together with a statement of the public debt on the 30th of June, 1864 : 

Receipts for the Fiscal Year ending July 30, 1862. 

[From Loans:] 

For three years' seven-thirty bonds $132,037,585 34 

For five-twenty years' six per cent, bonds . . . 13,990,600 00 

For Oregon War bonds 1,000,700 00 

For twenty years' bonds, six per cent, at par for 

$50,000,000 7 per cents 46,303,129 17 

For two years' Treasury notes, under act of June 23, 1860, 

and March 3, 1861 14,019,034 66 



LOAN OPERATIONS, 18G2 AND 1863. 353 

For sixty days' Treasury notes, under act of March 2, 1861 12,896,350 00 
For Treasury notes under acts of February 8 and March 

2,1861 3,500 00 

Under loan act of February 8, 1861 55,257 50 

For United States notes under the acts of July 17 and 

August 5, 1861, and February 25, 1862 . . . 158,650,000 00 
From temporary loan act of February 25, 1862. . . 66,479,32-4 10 
From certificates of indebtedness, acts of March 1 and 17, 

1863 49,881,979 73 

From temporary loan, in anticipation of popular subscrip- 
tion 44,375,000 00 

Total- $529,692,460 50 

But from this total should be deducted repayments on ac- 
count of matured public debt,^ 96,096,922 09 

Actual receipts, exclusive of repayments . . $423,595,538 41 

Eeceiptsfor the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1863. 

[Fbom Loans :] 

For three years' seven-thirty bonds $17,263,450 00 

For five-twenty years' six per cent, bonds . . . 175,037,259 44 

For two years' Treasury notes under act of March 2, 1861, 1,622 00 

For United States notes under act of February 25, 1863, 291,260,000 00 
For United States stock, Washington and Oregon War 

debt 145,050 00 

From temporary loan, under act of February 25, 1862 . 115,236,762 21 
From certificates of indebtedness, under acts of March 1 

and 17, 1862 157,479,261 93 

For twenty years' six per cent, bonds, under act of July 

17, 1861 76,500 00 

From United States fractional currency . . . . 20,193,456 00 

Total $776,683,361 57 

But from this total sum should be deducted repayments 

on account of pubUc debt ^ 181,086,635 07 

Actual receipts, exclusive of repayments . $595,595,736 50 

' These repayments were on account of the following items : Old funded debt, 
$3.06; redemption of purloined Treasury notes, act of April 10, 1846, $51.50; re- 
demption of Treasury notes under acts prior to July 22, 1846, $50 ; redemption of 
Treasury notes under acts of December, 1857, December, 1860, and March 2, 1861, 
$43,110,000 ; repayment of temporary loan from banks in anticipation of popular 
subscription, $44,375,000 ; repayments on account of temporary loans under the 
acts of February 25 and March 17, 1862, $8,553,207.53 ; United States notes retired 
by substitution, $58,610— aggregate, $96,096,922.09. 

2 The repayments for the fiscal year 1863 are thus stated : For redemption of 
Treasury notes under act prior to July 22, 1846, $50 ; for redemption of Treasury 
notes under act of December 23, 1857, December 16, 1860, and March 2, 1861, 
$2,211,650 ; repayments on account of temporary loan, under act of February 25, 

23 



354 LIFE OP SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Eeceiptsfor the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 1864. 

[From Loans :] 

From fractional currency $8,169,721 35 

From six per cent, twenty years' bonds, imder act of July 

17, 1861 30,565,875 45 

From five-twenty years' six per cent, bonds, act of Feb- 
ruary 35, 1863 821,551,383 81 

From United States notes, act of February 25, 1863 . 86,420,870 00 

From temporary loans, acts of February 35 and March 

17, 1862 169,318,044 81 

From certificates of indebtedness, acts of March 1 and 

17, 1863 169,179,000 00 

From six per cent, bonds of 1881, act of March 3, 1863 42,141,771 05 

From ten-forty years' five per cent, bonds under act of 

March 3, 1863 73,337,600 00 

From one year five per cent, legal-tender Treasury notes, 

act of March 3, 1863 44,520,000 00 

From two years' five per cent, legal-tender Treasury 

notes, act of March 3, 1863 . . . . . 166,480,000 00 

From three years' six per cent, compound-interest legal- 
tender treasury notes, act of March 3, 1863 . 17,350,000 00 

Total $1,138,834,345 97 

But from this must be deducted on account of reimburse- 
ments 433,822,014 03 



Actual receipts, exclusive of repayments ' . . $696,012,231 94 

and March 17, 1862, $67,516,993.48 ; redemption of United States stock, loan of 
1842, $2,580,743.36 ; redemption of 7-30 coupon bonds, under act of July 17, 1861, 
$71,500 ; redemption of United States stock, Washington and Oregon War debt, 
$69,550 ; redemption of United States (demand) notes under act of July 17, 1861, 
$56,177,390; redemption of United States notes under act of February 25, 1862, 
$2,099,000 ; redemption of certificates of indebtedness under acts of March 1 and 17, 
1862, ^50,359,758.23— aggregate, $181,086,635.07. 

1 The repa}Tnents for the fiscal year 1864 are thus stated : For redemption of loan 
of 1842, $105,812.30; for redemption of Washington and Oregon War debt, $5,300; 
for redemption of Texas indemnity stock, $992,000 ; for redemption of Treasury 
notes issued under acts prior to December 23, 1857, $50 ; for redemption of Treasury 
notes issued under act of December 23, 1857, $2,000 ; for payment of Treasury notes 
issued under act of March 2, 1861, $1,863,400; for redemption of postage and other 
stamps, under act of July 17, 1862, $5,024,900; for redemption of United States 
notes, under act of July 17, 1861, $2,892,427.50; for redemption of seven-thirty 
coupon bonds, under act of July 17, 1861, $687,500 ; for redemption of United States 
notes under act of February 25, 1862, $42,561,048.54; for reimbursement of -tem- 
porary loans, $197,299,734.04; for redemption of certificates of indebtedness, $165,- 
080,241.65 ; for redemption of fractional currency, $442,400; for redemption of two 
years' five per cent. Treasury notes, $13,615,200; for redemption of three years' six 
per cent, compound-interest-bearing legal-tender Treasury notes, $2,250,000 — aggre- 
gate, $432,822,014.03. 



PUBLIC DEBT, JUNE 30, 1864. 



355 



From these several statements it will be seen that, in the fiscal years 
1863, 1863, and 1864, the receipts from loans in all forms were, exclusive 
of repayments, $1,715,103,496.85. The outstanding obligations of the 
Treasury on the 30th of June, 1864, were thus officially stated by Mr. Sec- 
retary Fessenden in his report submitted to Congress December 6, 1864 : 



Loan of 1843 

Loan of 1847 .... 

Loan of 1848 

Texas indemnity . 

Old funded debt 

Treasury notes (old) 

Loan of 1858 

Loan of 1860 .... 

One year Treasury notes (old) 

Loan of February 8, 1861 

Two years' and sixty days' Treasury notes 

Oregon War debt .... 

Twenty years' six per cents. 

Seven-thirty Treasury notes . 

Demand notes .... 

"Five-twenties" .... 

United States legal-tender notes 

Temporary loan , . . . 

Loan of 1863 .... 

One and two years' Treasury notes 

Three years' compound-interest notes 

"Ten-forties" 

Certificates of indebtedness 
Postal currency .... 
Fractional currency 

Total public debt 



$196,808 45 

9,415,350 00 

8,908,341 80 

3,149,000 00 

114,115 48 

113,411 64 

30,000,000 00 

7,033,000 00 

600 GO 

18,415,000 00 

164,500 00 

1,016,000 00 

80,643,600 00 

109,356,150 00 

780,999 35 

510,780,500 00 

431,178,670 84 

73,330,191 44 

43,673,373 34 

153,471,450 00 

15,000,000 00 

73,337,750 00 

160,739,000 00 

15,167,556 00 

7,737,331 35 

$1,740,690,489 49 



The whole income of the Treasury during Mr. Chase's administra- 
tion (including the last quarter of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1861, 
which from loans was $17,585,534.39 ; from miscellaneous sources, $367,- 
213.67; and from customs, $5,515,552.16) from loans and taxes of all 
kinds and miscellaneous sources, exclusive of repayments, was $2,144,- 
854,466.36. He served as Secretary 1,210 days, so. that the average daily 
receipts, fi-om March 7, 1861, to June 30, 1864, were $l,772,606.99f. 



CHAPTEE XXXYI. 

ADVANCE m THE PEEMIUM ON GOLD DUKING 1862 EXTEAOKDl- 

NAEY FLUCTUATIONS IN 1863 AND 1864 EFFORTS TO CONTROL 

THE PREMIUMS BY TREASURY SALES THEIR FAILURE THE 

"gold bill" of JUNE 17, 1864 ITS DISASTROUS EFFECTS — 

FEVER IN THE GOLD MARKET — MR. CHASe's RESIGNATION 

THE HIGHEST FIGURE OF THE WAR, 185 PER CENT., JULY llTH 
REPEAL OF THE GOLD BILL GOVERNMENT SALES OF FOR- 
EIGN EXCHANGE AND GOLD CERTIFICATES FAILURE OF ALL 

THESE MEASURES TABLE SHOWING AVERAGE PRElVnUM ON 

GOLD FOR FIVE YEARS. 

MEANTIME, immediately after the suspension of specie 
payments, December 30, 1861, coin began to command 
a premium ; on Monday, January 13, 1862, it was already 
at 3 per cent. It steadily advanced, with some comparatively 
slight fluctuations, until on the last day of the year it stood at 
34 per cent. The fluctuations during 1863 and '64 were extraor- 
dinary. On the 1st of January, 1863, the premium stood at 
33| ; at 50 on the 24th ; 60 on the 31st ; on the 12th of Febru- 
ary, 54^ ; and on the 28th, 72^. It now began a steady decline, 
and on the 28th of March its highest point was 43^ ; on the 28th 
of July its lowest was 23|- ; and on the 28th of August it was 
22|-, the lowest figure for 1863. From this point the price again 
advanced, with comparative steadiness, to the end of the year. 
It was no imfrequent occurrence for the price to vary two and 
even five per cent, on the same day, as, for example : January 
13th the lowest price was 42 and the highest 44 ; on the 30th it 
alternated between 53 and 58| ; on March 24th between 45|- and 
53 ; and on* the next day between 39 J and 41f. On the 3d of 



RISE IN THE PRICE OF GOLD. 357 

Marcli the highest price was 71| ; on the 4th, 68 ; on the 5th, 
58 ; on the 6th, 54 ; and on the same day the lowest point was 
60 ; on the Tth the lowest was 54f and the highest 55|- ; and on 
the 10th the highest price was 63. These were the most violent 
fluctuations of the year. On the 31st of December the premium 
was at 52 per cent. 

During January, Febraary, and March, 1864, the premium 
steadily advanced from 52 on the 1st of the former month to 69^ 
on the 26th of the latter. April 12th it was Y5 ; and between 
the 12th and the 26th it ran up to 84. The lowest point in 
May was 68 on the 10th, and 86J on the 27th. 

These remarkable fluctuations, coupled with the steadily- 
advancing premiums, reacted upon the prices of commodities 
generally, and so seriously embarrassed the course of business 
as to produce a general alarm. Manufacturers, merchants, 
bankers, artisans, and daily laborers ; in a word, every class in 
the community, from the richest to the poorest, was more or 
less affected by the constant advance and the daily fluctuations 
in the price of gold. 

To prevent these two most serious evils became an object of] 
paramount importance. Three plans were tried, and three plans 
failed of any thing further than merely temporary effects : 

1. As a consequence of the policy which required duties on 
imports to be paid in coin, there was a large accumulation of 
coin in the Treasury. It was supposed that, if the Government 
were to enter upon the market as a " bear," its ability to de- 
liver " cash " gold in large sums would operate to reduce the 
premium. Accordingly, in March, 1864, the Secretary was au- 
thorized to sell surplus gold. 

On the 12th of April succeeding the passage of this act, 
gold was at Y5 per cent, premium. 

When the announcement was made that the premium had at 
last reached 75 per cent., and was likely still further to advance, 
the effect was almost like the loss of a battle. There seemed to 
have been a sort of involuntary concession on the part of the 
public mind that 75 per cent, was the limit ; that im.der that 
figure the danger was not imminent, but that beyond it financial 
disaster and destruction were to be apprehended. There was a 
genuine fear, therefore, when that figm-e was reached, that vast 



358 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

eyils were impending. The flimsiest of tlie Washington politi- 
cians, and the solidest of the business men of ISTew York and 
other commercial cities, participated equally in this apprehen- 
sion. As the strongest men instinctively tm-n to the Govern- 
ment for relief in periods of mere physical danger even, with an 
almost common impulse an appeal was now made to the Treas- 
ury. The Secretary was earnestly invoked to bring the power 
of the Department to bear upon what was called " the gold con- 
spiracy." It was believed that the " cash gold " of the Govern- 
ment might easily destroy the power of what a notable charac- 
ter afterward, with aptly-chosen phrase, described as " phantom 
gold." But a phantom is all the more formidable for the sim- 
ple reason that it is a phantom ; it was so in this case ; and the 
gold-ghost would not down even at the bidding of so potent an 
agency as the Treasuiy. 

Telegrams came in from all quarters, urging ]Mr. Chase to 
some action equal to the exigency. Eobert J. Walker, an ex- 
Secretary of the Treasury, and distinguished for great financial 
ability — said, indeed, to be a master of the science of political 
economy — urged that Mr. Chase avail himself of the authority 
to sell gold. Mr. Chase said he did not doubt that temporary 
effects might be produced by such operations, and was willing 
to try the experiment, but added that permanent effects were 
not to be expected except by a reduction in the volume of the 
currency and by military successes. He, however, went to New 
York on the night of the 13th, and arrived in that city on the 
morning of the 14:th. Some of the more daring of the gold 
operators, being informed of his presence, tried the experiment 
of intunidation ; they ran the price, on the street, to 88 or 89 ; 
this was but a flash of triumph, however, which ended in disas- 
ter. In the course of five days the Secretary sold, under the 
general direction of Assistant-Treasurer Cisco, about eleven mill- 
ions in gold ; and, from the street rate of 89 on the 14th, re- 
duced the premium to 65|- on the 19th, although there were 
constant fluctuations dm-ing the whole period. The effect of 
these Government " bearing " operations, on a large scale, was 
sufficiently convincing that even the great power of the Treas- 
ury was unequal to the task of controlling the market,* " The 

* It must not be inferred that this was the only instance in which Government 



"THE GOLD BILL." 359 

sales wliicli have been macj-a liere yesterday and to-day," said 
Mr. Chase, in a letter written to President Lincoln on the 15th 
of April (while the Secretary was still in Kew York), " seeTn to 
have reduced the price, but the reduction is only temporary, 
unless most decisive measures for reducing the amount of circu- 
lation and arresting the rapid increase of debt, be adopted." 

i^o sooner was the pressure of the Treasury removed from 
the market, than the premimn again advanced. On the 26th 
of April, its highest was 84 ; on the 15th of May, a month later, 
it was 85 ; on the 31st, 90 ; and on the 10th of June, 99. 

2. On the 12th of April, 1864, Mr. Chase sent to the Finance 
Committee of the Senate a bill, the pui-pose of which was, as 
stated by Senator Sherman, to prevent gambling in gold. It 
prohibited " time-sales," as they were technically called ; that is, 
sales of coin to be delivered at a future time ; and it prohibited 
also sales of gold by any broker or banker, at any other than his 
regular place of business. The penalty for violation of this act 
— which was declared to be a misdemeanor — was fine or impris- 
onment ; by fine not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 ; 
and imprisonment not less than three months nor more than one 
year, or both, at the discretion of the court ! The bill was the 
result of protracted consultation between Mr. Chase and expe- 
rienced financ'i gentlemen, and members of Congress, who 
agreed, generally, tHat if it did no good, it was not Hkely to do 
much harm ; in which opinion there was, however, as experience 
proved, a serious mistake. Mr. Chase emphatically said he 
was no admirer of this sort of legislation, and was by no means 
sanguine of its good results. 

There was a good deal of debate in the Senate upon this bill, 
but not much in the House ; in the course of which, however, 
all the history and argument bearing upon this particular phase 
of the financial situation were exhausted. It seemed to be pretty 
well understood that, although the measure was to be adopted, it 
was with no sanguine expectation of its successful operation, 
but rather with a good deal of foreboding and apprehension of 
evil. It passed the Senate on the 16th of April, but was not 

coin was sold by the Secretary's order with a view to affect the price ; it was, how- 
ever, by far the largest and most important operation of its kind made under Mr. 
Chase's administration, and for this reason I have been particular in describing it. 



360 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

acted upon by the House until June, and was passed in that 
body on the 14th of the month. It was approved by the Presi- 
dent on the lYth, and went at once into operation. 

Its effects were immediate and disastrous. Even before i^ 
was enacted into a law, but when it became apparent that it 
would pass the House and receive the sanction of the Presi- 
dent, its disturbing effect upon the price of gold was conspic- 
uous. It was not, however, until the 21st of June, when the 
act was authoritatively notified to the Stock Exchange and gold 
ceased to be called, that fully developed its evil qualities. 

Gold closed on the afternoon of June 20th at 98|-. On the 
21st it opened at 100, and sold up to 1Q8 per cent, premium ; on 
the 22d it went to 130 ; then fell to 120, and closed at 110 @ 
113. On the 21:th it sold at about the same figures ; brokers buy- 
ing at 110 and selling at 116. On the 25th it was much steadier, 
fluctuating between 112 and 115. On the 2Tth, there was fever- 
ish excitement ; the rate was 118, and the premium fluctuated at 
all figures between that and 138 ; closing at 133 @ 135. On 
the 28th it was moderately steady, the highest price being 138. 
On the 29th it was extremely irregular, selling from 138 up to 150, 
and the street was full of rmnors touching military and Treas- 
ury operations, and closed.at 143. On the 30th it fluctuated be- 
tween 145 and 150. On the 1st of July, announcement was 
made that Mr. Chase had resigned; the effect was immense. 
The premium advanced to 180 ; lYO and 175 per cent, were 
paid for large sums. At noon it was stated that Mr. Fessenden 
had been appointed Secretary, and the premium fell to 155, and 
at 3 p. M. to 125. July 2d it varied between 125 , and 140, 
and closed at 137. The disastrous operation of the act had by 
this time impressed Congress with the necessity of its prompt 
repeal ; and it was repealed accordingly on the 6th — ^but too 
late ; its substantial effects remained. On that day the premium 
ruled between 147 and 150 ; and on the 7th it opened at 154, and 
closed at 173 ; on the 8th it fluctuated between 166 and 176^, 
closing at the former figures. On the 10th it varied between 
160 and 170 ; on the 11th it opened at 185 ! sold down to 180, 
then up again to 185 ; and closed at 180|-. This was the high- 
est figure of the war. On the 12th the opening rate was 182, 
and fell steadily, closing in the afternoon at 172 @ 173. On 



EFFECTS OF THE GOLD BILL. ^Qi 

the 13tli it ranged between 168 and 175 ; on the 14tli it opened 
at 168 and fell to 157 ; on the 15th it feU from 156 to 144, clos- 
ing at 150|- ; and the Tr'ibime announced that the back of the 
gold-conspiracy was broken. ]S'evertheless, there was an ad- 
vance the next day, when the premium fluctuated between 148|- 
and 161^. It was not till near the close of September that it 
again fell to 100. On the 27th of that month its lowest point 
was 92|-, and its highest 95 ; on the 12th of October it advanced 
to 104| ; on the 9th of November to 160, and closed on the 31st 
of December at 127. 

Of com*se, the whole stock-market was strongly affected, and 
the prices of securities of every description, including govern- 
ments, were more or less seriously and permanently disturbed. 
Indeed, the calamitous effects of the act were manifest in the 
prices of all commodities, and were felt throughout the whole 
fabric of our social, commercial, and industrial system. Its 
failm-e was complete, and is another of the nmnerous illustra- 
tions afforded by history that to support the credit of paper- 
money by artificial methods is a vain if not a dangerous policy. 

3. The Treasury Department sold some millions of exchange 
upon London ; for a time privately through the agency of the 
Bank of Commerce, and also publicly through Mr. Cisco. On 
the 8th of July, 1864, Mr. Cisco sold exchange at 198 per cent, 
premium. In addition to sales of exchange, the Department, in 
order to protect importers from the fluctuations of the gold- 
market, and at the same time measurably to repress the advance 
in price, supphed gold certificates upon deposits of legal-tender 
notes, in the sub-Treasury, at one-quarter of one per cent, less 
than the ciurrent rate for coin. These certificates were receiv- 
able in payment of duties upon imports. They were issued 
directly to the importer makmg the deposit, and were unassign- 
able. But even this plan of thwarting the gold speculation 
(which was adopted by Mr. Chase upon the suggestion and 
recommendation of the IsTew York Chamber of Commerce), 
simple and practicable as it seemed, and for which a great tri- 
iimph was predicted, was soon found to be attended with prac- 
tical inconveniences of so serious a kind, that after a few weeks 
of trial it was abandoned. Despite every precaution^ the certifi- 
cates became subjects of speculation. 



363 



LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 



.... The following table, taken from the Bankers^ Maga- 
zine for April, 1867 (cited by Amasa Walker at page 476 of his 
book on " The Science of Wealth "), is valuable as showing the 
monthly range of the premium on,gold from January, 1862, to 
December, 1865 : 



MONTHS. 



January 

February... 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September. . , 
October. .... 
November. . 
December . . 

Average 



1862. 


1S63. 


Par® 6 


84 @60i 


2i@ 4f 


53 @72J 


H® 2i 


89 @71J 


n@ 2i 


46 ®59 


2J@ 4i 


48J@55 


Si® 9i 


4(»i ® 4SJ 


9 @20J 


2Si@46 


12J @ 16i 


22i @ 29i 


lt)i®24 


27 @43J 


22 @3T 


40f ® 56f 


29 ®38i 


48 @54 


30 ©34 


47 @52i 


13i 


46} 



1864. 



60 

61 

69} 

87 

90 



6H@ 

5"i@ 

59 @ 

66i@ 

68 @ 

89 ©151 
122 @ 185 
131} ©162 

85 ® 155 

89 ©129 
109 © 160 
111 ©144 

103} 



1865. 



97} ® 18-1} 
96f ©116} 
48} © 101 



44 
2.?1@ 
85} @ 
88 © 
40} © 
42-1© 
44 © 
45}© 
44}© 



60 

45} 

47| 

4(5} 

454 

45 

49 

48} 

46} 



58 



1866. 



36} ©444 
85} ©41} 
25 ©.36} 
25 ©29} 
25} © 41} 
87i @ 6T} 
4S} @ 55} 
4C} © 52} 
44 ©46} 
45f © 54} 
87} © 48f 
81} ©41} 



41} 



Average for five years, 52} per cent. 



CHAPTER XXXYII. 

LETTEES AUD EXTKACTS FEOM LETTEKS OF MB. CHASE "WKITTEN 

DUKING- THE TEAK 1862. 

To Peter Zinn, Esq., Colunibus, Ohio. 

" Washikgton, January 16, 1862. 
« . . . . "T~ AJVI not a candidate for the Senate, in tlie place of Mr. Wade. 
J- I took the post I now hold in obedience to the wishes of the 
President and the judgment of respected political friends. It was against 
my own inclinations, but having yielded these then, I have no wish now 
except to do my whole duty to the best of my ability in the position as- 
signed me, untU the wishes and judgment which governed me in taking it, 
shall indicate to me another sphere of duty or allow me to retire to private 
life. . . . Accept my thanks for your old friendship and support, and for 
your generous appreciation of my endeavors to serve our country in the 
place I now occupy. I have found favor beyond my hope and beyond my 
desert. My chief, if not my single, title to it is sincerity and zeal in the 
service 

"You know already that Mr. Stanton is to be Secretary of War in place 
of Mr. Cameron. I expect much from his ability, energy, and indefatigable 
labor, though I part from Cameron with regret. 

*'.... I see much I wish was otherwise — much that I think could be 
mended ; but I try to make the best of things and not the worst. Mc- 
Clellan is now almost well, and I look for early movements and great sue- 

C6s9* • • • 

To Elliott C. Coicdin, Esq., Chairman, etc., Hew YorTc. 

"Washington, February 20, 1862. 
" Sir : Most gladly would I imite with the citizens of New York in 
celebrating the anniversary of the birthday of Washington could I leave, 
even for such a purpose, my post of duty at this time ; but I must remain 
here. 

" The celebration which you propose, and similar celebrations spontane- 
ously springing fi-om the same impulse all over the country, justify the 



364 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

hope that the memory of Washington, ever living in the hearts of his coun- 
trymen, -win lend an appropriate inspiration to all our endeavors to restore 
the Union which he contributed so much to establish. "We need that in- 
spiration. We need, for the trials of these days, his firmness, his patience, 
his disinterestedness, his true courage, his lofty sense of justice, his enlight- 
ened zeal for impartial freedom. These are the virtues, which exercised in 
such degree as men are capable of, will not only restore the Union, but will 
reestablish it in more than its pristine vigor, compactness, and beneficence." 

To Henry C. Cary^ Esq., PMladelpTiia. 

" WA8HINQT0N, March 16, 1862. 

" . . . . Accept my thanks for the opportunity of reading Mr. (John 
Stuart) Mill's article, which I return. 

"He does not exaggerate the great evil from which the action of the 
American Government delivered the world in the settlement of the Trent 
affair. But it is hard to accept his view that the English Government 
could have done no otherwise than as it did. I am quite certain that, had 
positions been reversed, our Government would have acted very differently. 
Doubtless we should have asked explanations, but I mistake the case if we 
would have made any threats. 

*' It is by no means certain, either, that had a war taken place between 
ourselves and the English, the issue would have been the establishment of 
the Southern Confederacy as a great slaveholding and slavery-extending 
power. This Government always had a talismanic veto on that result in 
the simple word ' Emancipation.' The crime of England's aid for such 
an establishment would indeed have been flagrant, but it would have had 
another issue and a fearful recoil. 

"But these deductions from the general merit of the article are slight. 
As a whole it is admirable. Its tone is noble ; its style eloquent ; its rea- 
soning exact and forcible ; its sentiments elevated and manly. Altogether 
it is the best appreciation of the situation I have seen, if I except De Gas- 
parin's book, ' Un Grand Peuple, que se relive,' which to correct insight 
joins wonderful foresight." 

To William P. Mellen, Esq., Cincinnati. 

" Washington, March 26, 1862. 
". . . . I am not fond of political metaphysics. The article in the ^ce?^- 
ing Post, which you send me, suits me well enough. While I think that 
the Government, in suppression of the rebellion, and in view of the destruc- 
tion by suicide of the rebel State governments with the actual or strongly- 
implied consent of a majority of their citizens, may regard those States as 
having so far forfeited their rights that they may justly be treated as 
Territories, I have never proposed to make this opinion the basis of politi- 
cal measures, I much prefer to regard each State as still existing intact, 
and to be subject to no change of boundaries except such as may be freely 



MILITARY APPOINTMENTS. 365 

consented to by its people. I want to keep all the stars, and all the 
stripes; and to keep all the States with their old names and ensigns. 
South Carolina should be South Carolina stUl ; but reformed, I hope. I 
would preserve, not destroy, and I prefer civil provisional government, 
authorized by Congress, to military government instituted by the Presi- 
dent." 

To General Irwin McDowell. 

" Washington, March 2S, 1862. 

". . . . Inclosed you will find an article from the Cincinnati Commer- 
cial, which I hope you will read with care. 

" It grieves me to see the confidence of the country, which was revived 
by the late movement of the Army of the Potomac, already relapsing into 
distrust. Let me beg you to do all that is possible to inspire vigor and 
energy. Permit me also to suggest the expediency of having no more re- 
views. The country is in no mood to hear of any thing, however useful and 
desirable in itself, which savors of show rather than action. Think how 
much is to be done, and how near the midsummer is ! 

" If you cannot inspire activity, and even dash, into the army, you 
ought to seek some other command, unless certain that the outcome will 
prove the delay to be Fabian, and only a means to surer and larger sue- 

C/CoS* • • • 

To Colonel . 



" Washington, April 1, 1862. 

" . . . . You are mistaken about the potentiality of ' a word from me ' 
in the matter of brigadier-making with the President and Secretary of 
War. I have, however, referred your letter to the latter, with my indorse- 
ment. 

" I cannot approve the haste and inconsideration with which briga- 
diers and other high officers are made. The consequences are all evil — 
evil morally, evil financially, and evil politically." 

To Bradford R. Wood, Esq., Copenhagen, DenmarTc. 

" Washington, April 2, 1862. 

" .... I quite agree with your views of our duties both in the prose- 
cution of the war, and in relation to slavery. It was my opinion from 
the first that we should strike the insurgents as hard and as fast as pos- 
sible. I remember — how well ! — going to General Scott in May, nearly 
two weeks before Virginia voted on secession, and urging him to seize 
upon Manassas and Alexandria. At that time the rebels had no force of 
any strength or importance at either point, and only a few hundred men 
at Harper's Ferry. I urged that Manassas, commanding the two rail- 
roads, was of great strategic importance ; that with Manassas in our pos- 
session the rebels would be obliged to fall back from Harper's Ferry 
and Winchester, which would leave the Valley of the Shenandoah and a 



366 LIJ'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

large space on the Potomac clear of them, and give us the command of 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Wheeling. With this support, I fur- 
ther insisted that Virginia might be carried against secession by the pop- 
ular vote, and that in this way the whole State might be saved. General 
Scott was a good deal impressed by these views, but his military prudence 
decided him against the measures I proposed. The opportunity passed 
by; Manassas was occupied by the rebels, and you -know the history. 

"There have been other occasions in the course of the struggle in 
which it seemed to me that a different course from that actually adopted 
would have been better. This is esiiecially true in relation to slavery. 
It has seemed to me from the early days of the conflict that it was bad 
policy as well as bad principle to give any support to the institution. I 
was quite willing to let the loyal States do with it what they would, just 
as if we were at peace; but I have not been able to see the expediency or 
propriety of upholding the institution, directly or indirectly, in the rebel 
States. My idea was — not to declare emancipation — but simply to treat 
the population just as we found it, loyal or disloyal ; and the black loyal- 
ist better than a white rebel, and the same as a white loyalist. And I 
could see no valid objection to enlisting acclimated blacks, loyal and will- 
ing to serve, any more than enlisting white ones. But I have not been 
able to make our friends in the administration see as I have seen ; and I 
certainly do not claim to be more wise than they. When, therefore, I am 
overruled, I have quietly submitted, doing all I could to carry forward the 
cause and the work, if not in my preferred way, yet in the best way pos- 
sible for me. . . . Can you send me any good books — either in French or 
English — showing systems of revenue and taxation in Denmark ? " 

Early in May, 1862, the President, Mr. Chase, and Mr. 
Stanton, the Secretary of War, went together to fortress Mon- 
roe on the revenue-steamer Miami. The following letters to 
liis daughter Janet give a graphic account of the important 
events which happened during their stay : 

" Eeventte Steameb Miami, off Foetbbss Moitbob, May 7, 1862. 

" .... I write you from the cabin of the revenue steamer Miami, 
just outside two steam-transports loaded with troops, embarked for a 
proposed attack on Norfolk. 

" We came here night before last, having left Washington on Monday 
evening just before dusk. Our party consisted of the President, Mr. Stan- 
ton, General Viele — who had just returned from Port Royal, where he com- 
manded a brigade — and myself of course. Our staunch little Miami 
bore us rapidly and pleasantly down the river, till we were some ten or 
fifteen miles below Alexandria, when the night, which had come on with 
a drizzling rain, became so thick and dark that the pilot found himself 
unable to discern the right course. We were therefore obliged to cast an- 



VISIT TO FORTRESS MONROE. 367 

chor and wait for a clearer sky. By three o'clock on Tuesday morning 
•we were again on our way. We passed Aquia about daybreak, and at 
noon found ourselves tossing upon the waters of the Chesapeake. It would 
have amused you to see us at our luncheon. The President gave it up 
almost as soon as he began, and, declaring himself too uncomfortable to 
eat, stretched himself at length upon the locker. The rest of us persisted 
in eating, but the plates slipped this way and that, the glasses tumbled 
over, and rolled about, and the whole table seemed as topsy-turvy as if 
some spiritist were operating upon it. But we got through at last, and 
the Secretary of War followed the example of the President, while General 
Viele and I went on deck and chatted. The steamer had now all sails 
set, and with the help of wind and steam was moving handsomely onward 
at the rate of about twelve knots an hour. But soon the night began to 
fall ; the wind died away ; from some cause the fires in the furnaces burned 
low, and our progress was too sluggish for our eager wishes. Just then, 
as if to fret us the more, the Metamora, coming from Cherrystone with 
the dispatches, shot across our track on her way to the Fortress, and 
keeping straight through a shoal which our depth compelled us to go 
around, was soon out of sight. We kept steadily on, and between eight 
and nine o'clock reached our destination. Mr. Stanton at once sent a 
message to General Wool, notifying him of our arrival ; and soon the 
general, with some members of his staff, came on board. It was now 
near ten o'clock. After a short conference it was determined that the 
President, Mr, Stanton, General Wool and myself, with General Viele, 
should visit Commodore Goldsborough and talk with him about the con- 
dition of things and of the things to be done. As it was not easy to get 
alongside the Minnesota in the night, on the revenue steamer, we took a 
tug, and soon were within hailing distance. ' Ship ahoy ! flag-ship ahoy ! ' 
cried our tug-captain. But either his voice was naturally feeble, or in the 
presence of so many dignitaries he was a little abashed, for his hail was 
not at all sonorous, and brought no response. General Viele then took up 
the hail — ' Flag-ship ahoy ! ' ' What do you want ? ' came back over the 
water. ' General Wool wishes to go on board,' was the reply. * Come 
round on the port side,' said the voice from the ship, and round on the 
port side we went, and there were the narrow steps up the lofty side, and 
the guiding-ropes on either hand, hardly visible in the darkness. It 
seemed to me very high to the deck, and the ascent a little fearful. 
Etiquette required the President to go first, and he went. Etiquette re- 
quired the Secretary of the Treasury to follow, and he followed. We got 
up safely, of course, and when up, it did not seem so much of a ' getting 
up-stairs' after all. — But I must not stop to describe the Minnesota, 
though the noble ship is well worth description ; or to tell you more of 
the commodore's greeting, except that it was characteristically cordial, 
and that even in the press of business, he did not forget to inquire cordi- 
ally for you and Katie. Nor shall I tell you of the conference, except that 



368 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

it related to military and naval movements in connection with the dreaded 
Merrimac. 

" It was late before we got back to the Miami, where we parted from 
General "Wool and his officers under a promise to breakfast at headquar- 
ters the next morning. It did not then take long to get to bed and 
asleep. 

"The next morning — yesterday — we of the Miami were up pretty 
early : for somehow it is not easy to sleep late on shipboard ; and as our 
breakfast was to be at nine, Mr. Stanton proposed we should visit 
the Vanderbilt before going. The boat of the Miami was accordingly 
lowered, and we put off to the great ship. She was all ready for her en- 
counter with the Merrimac — enormously strengthened about the bow 
with heavy timbers, so as to be little else for many feet, say fifty from her 
prow, than a mass of solid timber, plated outside with ii'on. We stood a 
moment on her wheel-house, and looked down through the immense di- 
ameter of her wheels, the frame of which seemed slight, but it was in fact 
of the strongest wrought-iron bars and carefully adjusted to secure the 
greatest strength. The weight of one wheel was one hundred tons, and 
the diameter through which we looked was forty-two feet. From the 
Vanderbilt we sailed round the Monitor and the Stevens, and then 
back to the dock. But I must omit from this letter an account of our 
breakfixst ; of our visit to the Monitor and the Stevens, and to the Rip- 
Raps ; of Commodore Goldsborough's coming, and the discussion which 
followed ; of the appearance of the Merrimac, and of her disappearance ; 
of the review, and the visit to ruined Hampton ; of our dinner and the 
discussions after dinner; of the determination that Commodore Golds- 
borough should send the Galena and two gunboats up the river ; of the 
President and Mr. Stanton staying with General Wool, while I and General 
Viele returned to our steamer ; of how it was determined to attempt the 
reduction of the batteries at Sewall's Point next morning ; how we, that 
is, the President, Mr. Stanton, and myself, went to the Rip-Raps ; how the 
fleet moved to the attack ; how the roar of the first cannon broke upon 
a Sabbath silence ; how the great guns of the Rip-Raps joined in the fray, 
throwing enormous shot and shell more than three miles at a discharge ; 
how the Merrimac came down and out; how the Monitor moved up, 
and quietly waited for her ; how the big wooden ships got out of the way, 
that the Minnesota and the Vanderbilt might have a fair sweep at her, 
to run her down ; how she would not come where they could go ; how 
pluckily the little Stevens stood up ; how the Merrimac finally retreated 
to a point where the Monitor alone could follow her ; of our return to 
the shore, and of preparation for the embarkation of the troops — all this, 
and much more, I must leave untold this morning ; for since I vrrote the 
first half and more of this letter, a night is past, and the sun of the 8th of 
May has risen splendidly over Fortress Monroe." 



A RIDE TO HAMPTON. 369 

"FOETEESS MoNEOE, YrEGENTA, May 8, 1S62. 

". . . . My letter to you this morning closed abruptly with a mere 
synopsis of events. I will now give you a little better idea what took 
place yesterday. But, first, a word about the review of the day be- 
fore. The appearance of the Merrimac and the possibility of a con- 
flict with her, had led to a revocation of the order which had been given 
for one. But her retirement induced General Wool to propose that we 
should ride out to camp and see what was to be seen. The President 
and I went on horseback, while ]VIr. Stanton and his Assistant-Secretary, 
Mr. Tucker, went in a carriage, and we started ; General Wool and his 
staff forming a most brilliant feature of our cortege. We rode through 
the camp (about two miles from the Fortress), General Wool giving orders 
as we passed along to form the regiments, and make ready. We passed 
on to the village of Hampton, which was burned last summer by order of. 
the insurgent General Magruder. I never saw such a ruin — ^bare, black- 
ened, and crumbling walls, on every side; the court-house, about two 
hundred years old, but of remarkable beauty for that time ; the old church, 
amid the graves of generations, a gem of a building — built of brick brought 
from England in the good old time — where generation after generation 
of Virginians had been baptized, confirmed, married, admitted to the 
communion, and dismissed with tears and benedictions to their last re- 
pose ; old habitations, some of the upper and some of the humbler classes, 
all were involved in one act of indiscriminate destruction. The burning 
was an act of sheer vandalism. 

" We returned from Hampton, feeling saddened. As we crossed the 
bridge beyond which the rebels had not come, the contrast was very strik- 
ing. On this side, the residence of John Tyler, a leader in the rebellion, 
and others hardly less conspicuous, were standing unharmed by the sol- 
diers of the Union : on that side, public and private edifices were involved 
in remorseless devastation by a general of rebellion. 

" When we arrived at the camp, we found the troops as well prepared 
as the suddenness of the order admitted. Word was given to march in 
review, and on they came : first, the cavalry regiments, well mounted and 
well equipped ; then regiment after regiment of infantry, looking hand- 
somely also. It was inspiring to see them marching by, so orderly and so 
strong. When they had passed we rode on, but already one regiment was 
drawn up in line, and the colonel and his troops were made glad by the 
President, who rode along their line alone, uncovered, and inspiring a 
great enthusiasm. ,It is delightful, by-the-way, to observe everywhere the 
warm afl"ection felt and expressed for the President. 

"After the review, we returned to headquarters, where a consultation 
took place, which resulted in an order from the President to Flag-oflicer 
Goldsborough to send the Galena and two gunboats up the James River 
toward Richmond. Captain Rogers, who behaved so gallantly at Port 
Royal, commanded the Galena, and I have seldom seen a man more grati- 
fied by a commission to do something. He grasped my hand, and thanked 
24 



370 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

me warmly for my support of his views. So closed day before yesterday, 
when General Viele and myself went on board tlie Miami to our sleep. 

" Yesterday morning we came ashore early, having been brought down 
by a tug. Commodore Goldsborough came at the same time on a sum- 
mons from the President, and it was then determined that an attack 
should be made on the batteries on Sewell's Point. After the order had 
been given, the President, Mr. Stanton and myself, went over to the Rip- 
Raps in a tug to observe its execution. It was not a great while before 
the ships were in motion. The Seminole took the lead, followed by the 
San Jacinto and the Dakota, and finally the Susquehanna, whose captain, 
Lardner, was the commanding oiEcer of the vessels engaged. With these 
ships were the Monitor, and the little gunboat Stevens — which Commo- 
dore Stevens presented to the Treasury Department, and which I chris- 
'tened the Stevens in honor of the giver. Her name before being made into 
a gunboat was the Naugatuck, and she is sometimes even now mistakenly 
called by that name. By-and-by the Seminole reached her position, and a 
belch of smoke, followed in a few seconds by a report like distant thunder, 
announced the beginning of the canonnade. Then came the guns from the 
Rip-Raps, where we were; and soon the Monitor and the Stevens joined. 
In a short time the small battery on the extreme point was silenced ; and 
the attack was directed against a battery inside the point, and a half-mile 
or a mile nearer Norfolk. While this was going on, a smoke curled up 
over the woods on Sewell's Point, five or six miles from its termina- 
tion, and each man said to his neighbor, ' There comes the Merrimac ; ' 
and, sure enough, the Merrimac was coming. Before she made her ap- 
pearance, we had left the Rip-Raps and had reached the landing on our 
way to headquarters,, and just as we were going ashore, the monster came 
slowly out from behind the Point, and all the big wooden vessels began 
to haul oif. The Monitor and the Stevens, however, held their ground. 
The Merrimac still came on slowly, and in a little while there was a clear 
space of water between her and the Monitor. Then the great rebel terror 
paused; then turned back, and having finally obtained what she probably 
considered a safe position, became stationary. This was the end of the 
battle. Its results were, on our side, nothing and nobody hurt, with a 
certainty that the battery at the extreme of the Point was rendered use- 
less, and that the battery inside was much less strong and much less 
strongly manned than had been supposed. The results on the rebel side 
we cannot tell, but only Know that their barracks were burned by our 
shells. Another certainty is, tuat che Merrimac does not want to fight, and 
won't fight if she can help it, except with more advantages than she is 
likely to have in her favor. This has been a very interesting day, but I 
must not write more." 

" On boabd Steamee Baltimoeb, May 11, 1862. 

". . . . I closed my last letter to you with a brief account of the 
bombardment. That was thought to have shown the inutility of an at- 



THE SEAKCH FOR A LANDING-PLACE. 371 

tempt to land at Sewell's Point while the Merrimac lay watching it, and 
it at once became a question what should be done ? Three plans only 
seemed feasible: 1. To send all the troops that could be spared around to 
Burnside, and let him come in upon Norfolk from the south ; 2. To send 
them up the James River to aid General McClellan ; or, 3. To seek another 
landing-place out of reach of the Merrimac. In this state of things, I 
offered to take the Miami — ^if a tug of less draught and capable, therefore, 
of putting in nearer shore, could accompany me — and make an examination, 
in company with an officer, of the coast east of the Point. Colonel Cram 
olfered to go, and finally General Wool said he would accompany us also. 
We started accordingly, and having arrived opposite a point which I mark 
' A' on the poor draught I send you — don't laugh at it — sent a boat's crew 
ashore to find the depth of water. We had already approached within 
five hundred yards in the Miami, and the tug had approached within per- 
haps a hundred yards of the shore. The boats went very near land, and 
then, somewhat to my surprise, pulled away. When they returned to the 
boat the mystery was explained. They had seen an enemy's picket, and a 
soldier standing up beckoning his companions to lie close, and they had 
inferred an ambush and pulled off to avoid being fired at. When Colonel 
Cram and the officer of the boat came on board, they could still see the 
picket on horseback, and pointed his position out to me ; but I being near- 
sighted could not see. It was plain enough that there was no use in land- 
ing men to be fired upon and overcome by a superior force, and so the 
order was given to get under way to return to Fortress Monroe. We had, 
however, accomplished our main purpose, having found the water suffi- 
ciently deep to admit of a landing without any very serious difficulty. But 
just as we were going away, a white flag was seen waving over the sand- 
bank on shore, and the general ordered it to be answered at once, which 
was done by fastening a hed-sheet to the flag-line and running it up. 
Thereupon several colored people appeared on shore — all women and chil- 
dren. Fearing that the flag and the appearance of these colored persons 
might be a cover intended to get our people within reach of rifle-shot, I 
directed two boats to go ashore, with fuU crews well armed. They went, 
and pretty soon I saw Colonel Cram talking with the people on shore, 
while some of the men were walking about the beach. Presently one boat 
pulled off toward the ship ; and when she had come quite near, I observed 
the colored people going up the sand-bank, and Colonel Cram preparing 
to return with the other boat. It occurred to me that these poor persons 
might have desired to go to Fortress Mbnroe, and had been refused. So I 
determined to go ashore myself, and jumping into the returned boat, was 
quickly on the beach. The colonel reported his examination entirely sat- 
isfactory, and I found that none of the colored people (one of whom turned 
out, however, to be a white woman living near by) wanted to leave ; and 
we returned to the ship. These colored women and children, and the one 
white one, were the soldiers — except, perhaps, the picket on horseback — 



372 I-I^E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

who had alarmed our folks. But we had made an imj)ortant discovery : a 
good and convenient landing-place, some five or six miles distant from 
Fortress Monroe, capable of receiving any number of troops, and communi- 
cating with Norfolk by quite passable roads ; at a distance, by one route, 
of eight or nine, and by another, of twelve or thirteen miles. When I got 
back to the Fortress, I found the President had been listening to a pilot 
and studying a chart, and had become impressed with a conviction that 
there was a nearer landing, and wished to go and see it at once. So we 
started again, and soon reached the shore ; taking with us a large boat and 
some twenty armed soldiers from the Rip-Kaps. The President and Mr. 
Stanton were on the tug and I on the Miami. The tug was of course near- 
est the shore, and as soon as she found the water too shoal for her to go 
farther safely, the Rip-Raps boat was manned. Meantime I had the Miami 
prepared for action, her long-range gun trained on shore, with her other 
pieces ready for support, and directed the captain to land with both boats 
and all the men they could take fully armed. Before this could be done, 
however, several horsemen who seemed to be soldiers of the enemy, ap- 
peared on the beach. I sent to the President to ask if we should fire on 
them, and he replied negatively. We had again found a good landing, 
which, at the time, I supposed to be between two and three miles nearer 
Fortress Monroe than the one first foimd, but it turned out to be only about 
one-half or three-quarters of a mile nearer. 

"Returning to the Fortress, it was determined that an advance should 
be immediately made upon Norfolk from one of these landings. General 
Wool preferred the one he had visited, and it was selected. It was now 
night, but the preparations for the work proceeded with great activity. 
Four regiments were sent off, and others were ordered to follow. Colonel 
Cram went down to make a bridge of boats to the landing ; and General 
Wool asked me to accompany him the next morniag. Meantime, I placed 
the Miami at the command of Colonel Cram, to accompany the transports 
and protect the debarkation. 

" Next morning (yesterday) I was up early. We breakfasted at six 
o'clock, and got away as promptly as possible. When we reached the 
place selected for the landing, we found that a considerable body of troops 
had already gone forward. I then took the tug and went along the shore 
to the point where the President's boat had attempted to land the evening 
before, and found it only about three-quarters of a mile distant. I then 
returned to the Miami, and found that the general had gone ashore. I 
followed, and on the shore met General Viele. He asked me if I would 
like a horse. I said that I would, and he directed one to be brought to 
me, and I was soon mounted. I then proposed to ride up to the place 
where the pickets had been seen the night before. General Viele agreed, 
and we were not long in getting up as far as I had been with the tug, and 
even some distance beyond. We found a shed where a picket had staid 
the night before, and found fresh horse-tracks in many places, showing 



THE TAKING OF NORFOLK. 373 

plainly that tlie enemy had withdrawn but a few hours previously. Re- 
turning, I made report to General Wool. Meantime, Mr. Stanton had 
come, and he asked me to go on with the expedition, which I finally deter- 
mined to do. I accordingly asked General Wool for a squad of dragoons, 
and for permission to ride on with General Viele ahead of him, following 
the advance which had already been gone some three or four hours. He 
acceded to both requests, and we went on ; that is, General Viele, myself, 
and a half-dozen dragoons. After about five miles we came up with the 
rear of the advance, and soon heard artillery-firing in the front. Then, as 
we continued on, we heard that the bridge which we expected to cross 
was burned, and that Generals Mansfield and Weber were returning. 
About half or three-quarters from the burning bridge we met them, and, 
of course, turned back ourselves. Returning in this way, we met General 
Wool, who determined to leave a guard on this route and take another to 
Norfolk. There was now a good deal of confusion, to remedy which, and 
to provide for contingencies. General Wool — ^to whom I now attached my- 
self as a sort of volunteer aid — sent General Mansfield to Newport News to 
bring forward his brigade, and then divided his own troops into two 
brigades ; assigning General Viele to the command of one and General 
Weber to the command of the other. Affairs now went much better. 
The cavalry, under Major Dodge, were in the advance ; General Wool and 
his staff next; then a body of sharp-shooter skirmishers; then the main 
body of Viele's brigade; then Weber's. We stopped everybody from 
whom we could obtain information, and it was not long before we were 
informed, by one of the persons we thus stopped, that he had just come 
through the intended camp where we expected the rebels would fight, if 
anywhere; and that it had just been evacuated and the barracks fired. 
This agreeable news was confirmed by the arrival of one of Major Dodge's 
dragoons, who told us that the cavalry were already in the enemy's aban- 
doned camp. We soon ourselves arrived within the work — a very strong 
one — defended by many heavy guns, of which twenty-one still remained in 
position. The troops, as they came on through the entrance, gave cheer 
after cheer, and were immediately formed into line for the march to Nor- 
folk, now but two miles distant. General Wool now invited General 
Viele, General Weber, and Major Dodge, to ride with us in front ; and so 
we proceeded till we met a deputation of the city authorities, who formal- 
ly surrendered the city. We — General Wool and myself— entered a car- 
riage with two of the deputation, and General Viele another carriage with 
others of the deputation, and we drove into the town and to the City Hall, ' 
where the general completed his arrangements for taking possession of the 
city. These being completed, and General Viele being left in charge as 
military governor, General Wool and myself set out on our return to Ocean 
View, the name of our landing-place, in the carriage which had brought 
us to the City Hall ; which carriage, by-the-way, was that used by the rebel 
General Huger, and he had perhaps been riding in it that very morning. 



374 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

It was sundown when we left Norfolk; about ten when we reached Ocean 
View, and near twelve when we reached Fortress Monroe. The Presi- 
dent had been greatly alarmed for our safety by the report of General 
Mansfield, as he went by Newport News ; and you can imagine his delight 
when we told him Norfolk was ours. Mr. Stanton soon came into the 
President's room, and was equally delighted. He fairly hugged General 
Wool. For my part, I was very tired and was glad to get to bed. 

" This morning, as the President had determined to return to Washing- 
ton at seven o'clock, I arose at six, and just before seven went into the 
parlor, where I found Flag-ofiicer Goldsborough, who astonished and 
gratified us all by telling us that the rebels had set fire to the Merrimac, 
and had blown her up. It was then determined that, before leaving, we 
would go up in the steamer Baltimore — which was to convey us to Wash- 
ington — to the point where the suicide had been performed, and above the 
obstructions in the channel if possible, so as to be sure of the access to 
Norfolk by water, which had been intercepted by the exploded ship. 
This was done, but it took us longer than we supposed it would. We 
w6nt up to the wharves of Norfolk, where, in the Elizabeth River, were 
already lying the Monitor, the Stevens, the Susquehanna, and one or 
two other vessels. General Wool and Commodore Goldsborough had 
come up with us on the Baltimore, and as soon as they were transferred to 
the Susquehanna, our prow was turned down-stream, and touching for 
a moment at the Fortress, we kept on our way toward Washington, where 
we hope to arrive before breakfast-time to-morrow. 

" So ended a brilliant week's campaign by the President ; for I think it 
quite certain that if he had not gone down, Norfolk would still have been 
in the possession of the enemy, and the Merrimac as grim and defiant, and 
as much a terror as ever. The whole coast is now virtually ours, for there 
is no port which the Monitor and the Stevens cannot take. 

" It was both sad and pleasant to see the Union flag waving once more 
over Norfolk and the shipping in the harbor, and to think of the destruc- 
tion accomplished there but a little more than a year ago. 

" I went to Norfolk yesterday by land with the army ; this morning 
by water with the navy. My campaign, too, is over. Good-by. 

" Send these letters to sister." 

To Mr. Stanton, tlie Secretary of War. 

" Washinqton, May 80, 1862. 

" . . . . The President did not give me a chance to express my views, 
in reply to your inquiry if ' I could not be convinced.' Otherwise I should 
have said something more. 

"I am your friend and anxious well-wisher, because you are your 
country's friend and well-wisher, and more, her hard-worker. 

" It is not difficult for me to yield opinions, except when they seem to 
me impregnable in reason and fact. I only ask you to look calmly at 



EMANCIPATION. 375 

the probable consequences before you issue a new call for three mouths' 
men. 

" Reflect that the law expressly limits the acceptance of volunteers to 
those serving not less than six months, and does not authorize the calling 
out of militia under existing circumstances (Acts of 1861, p. 268). The 
emergency must be real and imminent which will warrant a call without 
law, and Congress in session. 

" Consider the time required to get them ; their comparative useless- 
ness when got ; the certainty of arresting enlistments for the war while 
the short call is being filled ; the increase of difficulty in obtaining such 
enlistments when the call has been filled ; the numbers already in the 
field ; the importance of supplyiag the losses in the existing three-years 
army by recruits of like terms of service. But enough. I am perhaps 
wrong in pressing this matter. It is easy to overrule me. . . . 

To Major- General Butler, at Neio Orleans. 

" Washington, June 24, 1862. 

" .... I am sorry to see that you thought it necessary to punish 
thieves with death. It is a dreadful penalty for such offenses, and you 
would not, I am sure, sanction its infliction if the circumstances did not 
demand it. 

" It is quite plain you do not find it so easy to deal with the contra- 
band question as at Fortress Monroe. Of course, until the Government 
shall adopt a settled policy, the commanding generals will be greatly em- 
barrassed by it. In my judgment, it is indispensable to fix upon some 
principle of action and abide by it. Until long after the fall of Sumter, 
I clung to my old ideas of non-interference with slavery within State limits 
by the Federal Government. It was my hope and belief that the rebellion 
might be suppressed, and slavery left to the free disposition of the States 
within which the institution existed. By them, I thought it certain that 
the removal of the institution would be gradually effected without shock 
or disturbance or injury, but peaceably and beneficially. But the war has 
been protracted far beyond my anticipations, and with the postpone- 
ment of decisive results came increased bitterness and intensified aliena- 
tion of nearly the entire white population of the slave States. With this 
state of facts came the conviction to my mind that the restoration of the 
old Union with slavery untouched except by the mere weakening effects 
of the war, was impossible. Looking attentively at the new state of 
things, I became satisfied that a great majority of the people of the United 
States had made up their minds that the constitutional supremacy of the 
national Government should be vindicated, and the territorial integrity 
of the country maintained, come or go what might. I became satisfied 
also that to secure the accomplishment of these great objects, slavery must 
go. That the Government of the United States, under the war power 
might destroy slavery I never doubted. I only doubted the expediency 



376 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of its exercise. When I saw that to abstain from military interference 
with slavery was simply to contribute the whole moral and physical power 
of the Government to the continued subjugation of nearly four million 
loyal people, that doubt was gone. In my judgment, the military order 
of General Hunter should have been sustained. The President, who is as 
sound in head as he is excellent in heart, thought otherwise ; and I, as in 
duty bound, submit my judgment to his. The language of the President's 
proclamation clearly shows that his mind is not finally decided. It points 
to a contingency in which he may recognize the clear necessity. My con- 
viction is, that that contingency will soon arise, if misfortunes so great do 
not occur as to overturn all anticipations. . . ." 

To the Hon. Pierre SouU, in Fort Lafayette. 

" WASHiKGTO>f, July 5, 1863. 

" . . . . The memories of the happier days, when we were associated 
in the Senate of the United States, are yet fresh in my mind, and prompt 
every wish to serve you in any mode, not incompatible with my public 
duties, which you can desire. 

" I have called the attention of the President and of the Secretary of 
"War to the letter which you addressed to me under date of the 37th of 
June, and regret the necessity of informing you that they decline entering 
into any explanations or making any further order in your case at present. 

" Would to God that you and the thousands of others ' who had no 
share or agency in bringing forth this revolution,' had not thought it 
your duty to acquiesce in the action of the majority or minority (be it 
which it may) by which the official organization of the State was placed 
in armed opposition to the constitutional authority of the Government of 
the whole country ! Had this not been, the bright old days would already 
have been brighter new days." 

To Major- General Butler, at New Orleans. 

" Washington, July 81, 1862. 

" .... I have not seen the instructions, if any have been prepared, 
which General Shepley is to take back with him to New Orleans ; nor 
has it so happened that I have talked with either the President or Mr. 
Stanton on the subject of such instructions. All I know of the President's 
views is, intimations I have heard from him, that it may possibly become 
necessary, in order to keep the river open below Memphis, to turn the 
heavy black population of its banks into defenders. 

" You will see from what I have written that in what I have to say on 
the important topic touched in your letter by way of reply to mine of June 
24th, I shall express only my own ojiinions ; opinions, however, to which I 
am just as sure the masses will and the politicians must come, as I am sure 
that both politicians and masses have come to opinions expressed by me 
when they found few concurrents. 



THE QUESTION OF EMANCIPATION. 377 

" I begin with the proposition that we must either abandon the at- 
tempt to retain the Gulf States, or that we must give freedom to every 
slave within their limits. We cannot maintain the contest with the dis- 
advantages of unacclimated troops and distant supplies against an enemy 
able to bring one-half the pojDulation under arms, with the other half held 
to labor, at no cost except that of bare subsistence, for the armed moiety. 
Still less can we maintain the contest if all we do must necessarily enrage 
and alienate the military half, while we do nothing to conciliate, but very 
much to disaflfect, the laboring half. 

" I have not time to argue this out, or even to qualify as might be nec- 
essary to avoid captious objection, the generality of my statement. Of its 
substantial accuracy I am certain. 

" As to the border States, even including Arkansas, a different rule may 
be adopted. In these States the President's plan of compensated emanci- 
pation may be adequate to a solution of the slavery question ; though I 
confess my apprehensions that the slaveholders of these States will delay 
acceptance of the proposition until it will become impossible to induce 
Congress to vote the compensation. Should compensated emancijiation 
fail in those States, emancipation will not be the less a necessity ; and 
prompt emancipation, as a military measure in the Gulf States, will facili- 
tate it by affording a convenient and easy outlet for the freedmen. 

" It will not escape your acute observation that military emancipation 
in the Gulf States will settle, or largely contribute to settle, the negro ques- 
tion in the Free States. I am not myself afraid of the negroes. I have 
not the slightest objection to their contributing their industry to the pros- 
perity of the State of which I am a citizen, or to their being protected in 
their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, by the same laws 
which protect me. But I know that many honest men really think that 
they are not to be permitted to reside permanently in the Northern States, 
and I believe myself that, if left free to choose, most of them would prefer 
warmer climes to ours. Let the South be opened to negro emigration by 
emancipation along the Gulf, and it seems pretty certain that the blacks of 
the North will go southward, and leave behind them no question to quar- 
rel over, so far as we are concerned. 

" This rough statement sufficiently presents my general view. 

" Now for its practical application in Louisiana. Of course if some 
prudential consideration did not forbid, I should at once, if I were in your 
place, notify the slaveholders of Louisiana that henceforth they must be 
content to pay their laborers wages. This measure would settle it in the 
minds of the working-population of the State that the Union general is 
their friend ; would be apt to secure him a good deal of devotion among 
them ; and when he wanted faithful guides or scouts, he could find them. 
It is quite true that such an order could not be enforced by military power 
beyond military lines ; but it would enforce itself by degrees a good way 
beyond them, and would make the extension of military lines compara- 
tively quite easy. 



378 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" It may be said that such an order would be annulled. I think not. It 
is plain enough to see that the annulling of Hunter's order was a mistake. 
It will not be repeated. 

" Do the acts of Congress leave, indeed, much room for choice, if those 
acts are to be faithfully obeyed ? The act of last year declared the slaves 
of all persons, if employed in aid of the rebellion, free. The acts of this 
last session declare free the slaves of all persons who themselves engage in 
rebellion, or aid and abet it; prohibit the return of fugitives by military 
commanders ; and authorize the employment of slaves in the service of the 
Union either as laborers or in arms, or both, at the discretion of the Presi- 
dent. How these acts can be executed and slavery maintained, especially 
where slaves are numerous, I am at a loss to conceive. 

" I think the President feels this difficulty. . . . Hence, the other day, 
when some conversation occurred about General Hunter, he was very far 
from expressing the same dissatisfaction with General Hunter's course that 
he would have done five or six weeks ago. 

" The truth is, there has been a great change in the public mind within 
a few weeks. The people are resolved not to give up the struggle for ter- 
ritorial integrity. They mean to keep every inch of American soil in the 
United States. Whatever stands in the way of this determination must get 
out of the way. If State organizations, they must fall ; if negro slavery, it 
must be abolished. 

" Now it seems to me that it is just as well to make the shortest pos- 
sible work of this as the longest possible. Negro slavery should first fall 
where it has done most mischief, and where its extinction wiU do most 
good in weakening rebellion and incidentally otherwise in the extreme 
South, . . . 

" You must determine, in the exercise of your own good judgment, what 
prudence will permit ; but so far as prudence allows, you may certainly 
well go. . . ." 



D^ 



To Major- General JoTin Pope^ Army of Virginia. 

" Washxngton, August 1, 1862. 

"... .1 am not quite certain that it is best to exact an oath of 
allegiance as a condition of permission to remain within our lines. It is 
so easily taken and broken ; and besides it seems hardly fair to demand it 
when we are not sure of being able to afford the corresponding protection. 
Would it not suffice to exact absolute acquiescence in the Union occupa- 
tion, and punish severely and summarily all correspondence with rebels 
and expressions of hostility to the Government ? 

" Allow me to express a hope that you will deal generously and kindly 
with the blacks, who are almost all loyal. They have rendered great ser- 
vices in many cases, and have then been given up to slavery. This is too 
bad. If I were in the field, I would let every man understand that no 
man loyal to the Union can be a slave. We must come to this. The 
public sentiment of the world, common-sense, and common justice^ demand 



EMANCIPATION— CONDUCT OF THE WAR. 379 

it. The sooner we respect the demand, the better for us and for our 
cause. 

To Bobert Bale Owen, Esq. 

""Washington, September 20, 1S62. 

". . . . Tour note, with your admirable letter on emancipation ad- 
dressed to me, came duly. My own judgment, as I said to you in 
conversation, has inclined to emancipation by military orders, founded 
on military exigencies, and made by the commanding general of the two 
great Southern departments, rather than general emancipation by procla- 
mation of the President. Convinced, however, as I am, of the indispen- 
sable necessity of the thing, I am comparatively indifferent as to the mode, 
and am entirely ready to stand by you in support of yours. 

" Yesterday your letter to the President came, and I lost no time, after 
submitting it to the perusal of Mr. Stanton, in placing it in the hands of 
the President. I have not seen him since. 

" It cannot fail to impress him powerfully. God grant that it may im- 
pel him to action 1 You will hardly ever accomplish a greater work than 
this letter. It seems to me impossible to exceed the force and energy with 
which you have urged the sublimest of duties. The letter thrilled me like 
a bugle-call ; and when published, as it should be, I hope it may prove a 
trumpet of resurrection to our people. 

" The rebels are driven out of Maryland, but they have taken out with 
them all their artillery, trains, and spoOs. StUl, it is much that their au- 
dacious designs on Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington, are defeated. 
Oh, that the President and those who control military movements, may 
see the necessity of foUowing up vigorously and indefatigably the success 
now achieved, by blow on blow tiU the rebellion is finally crushed ! " 

To Senator John Sherman, of Ohio. 

" Washington, September 20, 1862. 

" , . . . The future does not look promising to me, though it may be 
brighter than it seems likely to be. 

" Since General Halleck has been here the conduct of the war has been 
abandoned to him by the President almost absolutely. We who are called 
members of the cabinet, but are in reality only separate heads of depart- 
ments, meeting now and then for talk on whatever happens to come up- 
permost—not for grave consultation on matters concerning the salvation 
of the country— we have as little to do with it as if we were heads of 
factories supplying shoes or clothing. No regular and systematic reports 
of what is done are made, I believe, even to the President ; certainly none 
are made to the cabinet. 

" Of course, we may hope the best ; that privilege always remains. It 
is painful, however, to hear complaints of remissness, delays, discords, dan- 
gers, and feel that there must be ground for such complaints, and know at 
the same time that one has no power to remedy the evils complained of 



380 LII'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and yet he thouglit to have. I saw the Neil House on fire, and felt sick at 
heart to think I could do nothing to arrest the progress of the conflagra- 
tion. Comparing great things to small, I experience similar feelings now. 
The difference is, that no one thought me responsible for the administra- 
tion of the fire department of Columbus. 

" Well the rebel army is withdrawn from Maryland, and that is some- 
thing, but far less than we anticipated. We hoped it would not be per- 
mitted to withdraw except in flight and utter demoralization. It is in 
fact, however, to-day relatively stronger than our own. It has lost less ; 
it has taken more prisoners ; more guns ; more supplies of every sort. 
Still I hope we shall reduce the disparity from day to day, and soon shift 
the balance and complete the work. Let us hope in Providence. . . ." 

To ElUm Burritt. 

" Washington, October 6, 1862. 

" . . . . Among my most cherished recollections are those connected 
with the organization and action of the Liberty party. I have never 
changed the opinion I once took occasion to express in the Senate, that 
a body of more earnest, patriotic, and intelligent men were never asso- 
ciated in political action. Many of those who participated in its work 
have passed from earth. I remember them affectionately, and have deeply 
regretted that they could not live to witness the ascendency of the prin- 
ciples for which they labored so disinterestedly. I rejoice in numbering 
among those who survive many of my most valued friends. 

" Your own services in the great cause of freedom and humanity have 
always been cordially recognized and appreciated by me. It was with 
real pleasure, therefore, that I received your note of the 3d instant ; and I 
have read attentively the paper you inclosed. While there are many 
things in your plan, and especially the feature of a North American Zoll- 
verein, which seem to me to deserve attentive consideration with a view 
to practical results, I have not been able to see any ground for thinking 
that the existing struggle can be terminated by any arrangement recogniz- 
ing a Southern Confederacy formed out of the United States. 

" It is true that, prior to the attack upon Fort Sumter, I shared a 
quite general opinion that, if the other States could be retained peaceably 
in the Union, it would be better to allow the seven States which had 
formed the so-called Confederate Government to try the experiment of a 
separate existence, rather than incur the evils of a bloody war and a vast 
debt. The attack on Sumter made such an arrangement impossible, and 
left nothing practicable except the assertion of the rightful supremacy 
of the national Government over all parts of the Union. The work of re- 
establishing that supremacy has been unnecessarily protracted. It may 
perhaps be not unreasonably thought that errors in counsel, and ii-resolu- 
tion and ill-success in military action, are ascribable to an overruling 
Providence, which has determined that this war shall be not only our 



CIVIL GOVERNMENT IN REBEL STATES. 381 

punishment for having so long shared in the guilt of slavery, but the oc- 
casion also of breaking the bonds of the slave. 

" The proclamation of the President has determined that if the rebel- 
lion continues, slavery shall cease, so far as the authority of the United 
States is concerned, on the 1st of January next. This great act of justice 
having been thus performed may we not hope that with vigor and energy 
we may see the rebellion suppressed before the close of another spring ? 
I, at least, think the hope not ill-founded. I am confident that nothing is 
needed to insure the result, except the vigorous use of the necessary means, 
which we have in abundance ; and, what is indispensable to all success, 
the favor of God." 

To General N. B. Buford^ in the Army. 

" Washington, Octdb&r 11, 1862. 

" .... I was glad to-day to receive your letter of the 1st instant. I 
have long been of opinion that a much more comprehensive policy, both 
in military and civil administration, was necessary to the speedy and thor- 
ough reestablishment of the constitutional authority of the Federal Gov- 
ernment throughout the country. Tour view of the necessity of a civil 
government in rebel States, under the auspices of the United States, I 
have also felt ; and I have endeavored to impress it upon the Administra- 
tion and upon Congress, though with less success than I wished. At first, 
the President and nearly the whole cabinet were favorable to it ; but 
the strenuous objections of one or two made the President, who dislikes 
controversy, abandon it. 

" In Congress, a plan for a civil government was reported from the 
Judiciary Committee in the Senate, but no action was taken upon it in 
consequence of apprehensions of conservative Senators that it might some- 
how aifect slavery. The plan to which I refer proposed, simply, the ap- 
pointment of a Governor and three judges ; the first constituting the ex- 
ecutive, the three judges the judiciary, and all together constituting the 
Legislature, for any district occupied by our troops — the district to be ex- 
tended with the occupation until it should embrace an entire State. The 
advantages of this plan seem to me to be obvious. It would interfere with 
no local administration, beyond insisting on loyalty ; it would aflbrd a 
head, in place of the State organization, acting directly on the people in 
the ordinary form of legislative, judicial, and executive administration ; 
and it could give way, without any great disturbance or inconvenience, 
upon the reestablishment of the State government. With an able Govern- 
or, and three judicious men as judges, the plan could have been put into 
operation, for example, in the portion of Mississippi occupied by you, and 
the people would hardly have been conscious of the change from their 
regular State government, unless county and municipal organizations should 
persist in disloyalty, and' the loyal men should be too few to replace them 
by new elections. 



383 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" In place of this, we have an unsystematic system of military govern- 
ors, who cannot possibly act in any other capacity than executive, without 
shocking the fixed notions of our people. 

" Perhaps we shall come to something like this, but we move exceed- 
ing slow. AU great bodies do, it is said ; and therefore we must be great. 

" As to slavery, you know my ideas. It was my most ardent wish and 
hope that after the establishment of the principle that slavery could not 
be extended, or maintained, under Federal jurisdiction by Federal au- 
thority, it might be left within the States to the absolute disposition of the 
States themselves. When the insurrection first broke out, I thought that 
it might be speedily suppressed by the active use of the necessary means, 
and that without afiecting the institution of slavery otherwise than morally. 
The progress of the war has been, perhaps providentially, such that it has 
become impossible, and has now, in my judgment, been long impossible, 
to suppress the rebellion without suppressing the institution which gives 
it life. I would prefer to have had this necessity recognized by military 
authorities, acting through military orders according to military exigen- 
cies. I was, therefore, in favor of General Hunter's order, and of support- 
ing General Butler in the exercise of a similar discretion. Such orders 
would have settled the question without noise, and probably without 
much excitement. 

" As the President did not concur in this judgment, I was willing, and 
indeed very glad, to accept the proclamation as the next best mode of 
dealing with the subject. 

" I do hope we shall now have mora energy and activity in the prose- 
cution of the war. Our news from the Army of the Mississippi is very en- 
couraging ; and as it appears that the rebels are being driven out of Ken- 
tucky, I hope that soon the national lines will be farther advanced south- 
ward than ever; that, at the same time, vigorous operations on the coast 
will reduce every fortification on the coast, from Norfolk round to Browns- 
ville. It is something of a danger, though I trust but temporary, that 
Stuart's cavalry are this morning in possession of Chambersburg. But it 
is disgraceful. ..." 

To Joseph Medill, Esq., Chicago. 

" Washington, December 18, 1862. 

" .... It is a strange thing for me to write explanations or vindica- 
tions of any recommendations of mine. I prefer they shall stand or faU 
upon the judgments of those to whom they are presented. But I regard 
the enactment of a law for the organization of banking associations as so 
indispensably important, in our present circumstances, that I depart from 
my usage. 

" I have seen the Chicago Tribune, in which, with great personal kind- 
ness and consideration, you dissent from my proposition. Your dissent, as 
I understand, is placed mainly on the ground that we ought to get rid of 
banks altogether, and come to gold currency. 



THE NATIONAL CURRENCY SYSTEM. 383 

" I do not propose to discuss these objections. My time does not per- 
mit. I only wish to say that I have looked on all sides of the subject with 
all the care I could use, and I am fully satisfied that we cannot get rid of 
banks and their circulating notes. Try as we may, they will be sanctioned 
in some States and at difierent times in all States. What I seek is to deal 
with what must be in such a way as to get from it the greatest possible 
good. 

" The choice is between, say, fifteen hundred banks, organized under 
many and various laws, and as many banking associations as can and will 
furnish the required security, organized under one and the same law. 

" My conviction is clear that the people of the West will save in discounts, 
exchange, losses by counterfeits, and all the variety of ' shaves,' in case the 
plan proposed be adopted, nearly one-half as much as the interest on the 
national debt can probably amount to. 

" You seem to think that the plan proposes inconvertible paper money ; 
whereas its very object is to avoid a deluge of that sort of stuflf. Not only 
is the circulation of the association to be secured by the bonds deposited 
with the Treasurer, but it is to be payable in coin as soon as the Govern- 
ment is ready to pay coin for its own issues, which must be at the earliest 
possible day. . . . 

" The example of Illinois, or any other State, which has allowed other 
bonds than its own and those of the United States to be pledged, is not 
analogous. The bonds of the United States, pledged for a national circu- 
lation, are like New York bonds pledged for a New York circulation. . . . 

" My wish is for the country. I know the imminence of its peril." 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 

LETTEKS AND EXTRACTS FEOM LETTEES WRITTEN IN 1863. 

To Charles A. Heckscher, Esq., New York. 

" Washington, January 22, 1S68. 
« . . . . ~r fear greatly that Congress will not find time or have the incli- 
-L nation to pass an increased tax-bill. The report of the Com- 
missioner of Internal Revenue satisfies me that the income from that source 
cannot fall short of $150,000,000 a year, while the revenues from cus- 
toms cannot be estimated at less than $60,000,000. The lowest pos- 
sible point is $50,000,000, and the highest probable point is $75,000,000. 
Our income from taxation, therefore, in various forms, will range from 
$200,000,000 to $235,000,000. Our whole debt is at the present moment, 
in round numbers, $770,000,000 ; to which may be added, for floating 
debt, in all forms, $60,000,000. My impression is that the amount will 
not be found to be so large, but I have no means of forming an entirely 
accurate judgment. 

" I have no reason to change the estimates submitted by me to Con- 
gress, or to believe that our aggregate debt on the 1st of July, 1864, can 
be carried beyond $1,750,000,000. With a good national free-banking 
law, I think the interest on this amount can be kept down to five per cent. ; 
it ought to be reduced even below that. Call it five per cent., and the in- 
terest will be $87,500,000. Add to this sum for ordmary expenditures, 
$70,000,000; or, allowing for extravagance, say $80,000,000, the aggre- 
gate is $167,500,000, leaving from $32,500,000 to $57,500,000 for a sinking 
fund. Surely with a pledge of the whole customs for interest and reduc- 
tion of the principal, and with this large taxation, if any bonds on earth 
can be made secure by taxation, ours are already made secure. 

" My own conviction is, that the greatest detriment to the public cred- 
it now arises from the divorce of the Government from the ordinary cur- 
rency of the country. If that currency were brought under regulation 
of the Government by the bill which I propose, and so made the medium 
in which all duties, taxes, and other dues, could be paid in ordinary times, 
while the banking associations would furnish safe depositories of public 



CONCERNING FINANCIAL MEASURES. 335 

moneys — made safe, if you please, by adequate securities as imder the 
French system — I have no doubt that the bonds would be so strengthened 
that loans would be comparatively easy, and the great evils of an exces- 
sively redundant currency would be averted. 

" But, as in relation to the war last year, I urged measures which, in 
my judgment, would have terminated it ere this time at less than two- 
thirds the cost incurred, my counsels were substantially disregarded ; so 
now there is reason to fear that the safe ways in finance are only to be 
learned by the hard teachings of bitter experience. . . ." 

To William Pitt Fesaenden, United States Senate. 

" WAsmNQTON, January 27, 1863. 

" . ... I called to see you this morning, but you had just left your room. 

"My solicitude in respect to our finances is very great. 

"Last session, against my most earnest remonstrances. Congress insisted 
on the conversion clause. It operated as I had represented it would. It 
made negotiations impossible except below par, and at increasingly dis- 
advantageous rates. Had I resorted to such negotiations and thus nulli- 
fied the conversion clause, what reproaches should I not have incurred for 
the Administration, for the men who support it, and for myself I 

" In my first report (July, 1861), I suggested a tax on bank-notes as 
well as other internal taxes, but at that session no internal duties at all 
were imposed. We aU hoped that the increased customs duties and the 
direct tax might suffice. 

" In my second report — just before the suspension — I proposed a na- 
tional banking system and a tax on circulation, both for the banks organ- 
ized under it and the local banks. It is my well-considered judgment 
that, had these views been adopted at the last session, together with the 
measures I urged in respect to loans, there would have been comparatively 
little financial embarrassment at this time. 

"But Congress thought otherwise. The system of conversion was 
adopted, and the Banking Association BUI was only ordered to be printed 
for public information and consideration. 

" At this session I have repeated my former recommendations ; and in 
addition as a temporary measure I sent to both the Financial Committees 
the bill which actually passed the Senate. 

" Instead of this bill, which would have enabled me to avert the in- 
crease of United States notes, to some extent at least, Congress passed a 
joint resolution lookuig only to the acceleration of that increase, and now 
the House has adopted a measure which still looks in the same direction. 

" I do not propose to argue any thing in this letter. Indeed, the rapid 
advance of gold speaks all that can be said. But I do wish to keep in 
your most kind consideration the indispensable importance of adequate 
measures for the crisis. 

" You have the brain of a statesman and the heart of a patriot. Never 

was greater need of both." 
25 



386 I-IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

» 

To William P. Mellen, Cincinnati. 

"Washington, January 27, 1863. 

" . . . . The newspapers cannot be relied upon for correct information 
of what transpires here. Their correspondents gather their information 
from street talk and conversations with members and, occasionally, with 
heads or employes of departments, and, in the multitude of conflicting 
statements and opinions, rarely hit the precise truth. 

" The bill of the committee, which has passed the House, does not ex- 
press my views, though in some respects it is much better than the act 
of last sessiou ; and so much was conceded to me by the committee, that 
I did not think it wise to oppose its passage through the House, though I 
should have been glad to have had it amended in several particulars : 

" 1. I desired that interest on all temporary loans should be paid in 
United States notes. 

" 2. I preferred that the Treasury notes bearing interest should be 
made a legal tender for their face value, excluding interest, instead of 
being made convertible into United States notes. 

" 3. I did not see the necessity of increasing the issue of United States 
notes. 

*' 4. I thought the tax on bank-note circulation should be a uniform 
rate of two per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually, instead of the 
graduated scale preferred by the committee. 

" 5. I wished that the section authorizing deposits in State banks and 
checks upon them, that is to say, the virtual restoration of the pet-bank 
system, should be stricken out altogether. 

" The majority of the committee is yet averse to the uniform Currency 
and Banking Bill ; but I still hope to get a majority in its favor; but it is 
precisely on this point that all efforts should be concentrated. If this bill 
can be passed into law, it is comparatively unimportant what other meas- 
ures prevail. So it is if the bill does not become a law. With it, success 
is possible and probable. Without it failure is probable if not cer- 
tain. . . ." 

To Horace Greeley, New TorTc. 

"Washinqton, January 28, 1863. 
" . . . . Why don't you — ^who can so well point out the path which 
others ought to walk — do your part toward the great and indisj>ensable 
work of establishing a uniform national currency ? A breaking up of the 
cabinet would hardly, I fear, in these last days of the session, promote 
the success of the legislative measures without which the President can 
hardly expect to carry on the war or any thing else, very successfully, in 
face of the opposition he is likely to encounter. Let us get the measures 
necessary to the success of any Republican Administration adopted, and 
then let the cabinet be reconstituted if you will. For one, I am quite 
willing to be reconstituted. I have neither love nor hate for the position 
I occupy, aud have two great regrets connected with it : one, that I ever 



THE CURRENCY— SLAVERY. 387 

took it ; the other, that, having resigned it, I yielded to the counsels of 
those who said I must resume it. 

" But this is apart from the great question — which is not second to any 
connected with the war itself at this time. "What financial measure can 
take us back to the firm ground from which the legislation of last session 
freed us ? . . . The main point is the banking bill. A circulation issued 
directly by the Government cannot be made a good currency. The diffi- 
culty is partly in the nature of the thing and partly in the nature of men. 
The total difficulty is unsurmountable, and so says all experience. 

" The only way which has had trial enough to warrant reasonable ex- 
pectations of success is through banking institutions. Local banks were 
tried in the War of 1812, and failed disastrously, and they will fail just as 
disastrously now. A Bank of the United States has been twice tried, and 
nobody is bold enough to propose a third trial. There seems to remain 
only a national free-banking system. A State free-banking system has 
been tried in New York for three millions of people, with the best results 
on State credit and individual well-being. What is so good for three 
millions of people must be good for thirty millions or thirty-three mill- 
ions. ..." 

To George Opdylce, Oeorge Griswold, and others, New YorTc. 

" WAsnmQTON, April 8, 1863. 

" . . . . Imperative demands on my time compel me to deny myself 
the gratification of attending the meeting to which you have invited me. 

" You will meet to send words of cheer to our brave soldiers in the 
field ; to declare the inviolability of the national territory and the suprem- 
acy of the national Constitution and laws; and to strengthen the hands 
and nerve the heart of the President for the great work to which God and 
the people have called him. For what nobler purposes can American 
citizens now assemble ? 

" It is my fixed faith that God does not mean that this American 
Republic shall perish. We are tried as by fire, but our country will live. 
Notwithstanding all the violence of rebels, and their sympathizers on this 
or the other side of the Atlantic, our country will live. And while our 
country lives, slavery, the chief source and cause and agent of all our 
ills, will die. The friends of the Union in the South, before rebellion, 
predicted the destruction of slavery as a consequence of secession, if that 
madness should prevail. Nothing, in my judgment, is more certain than 
the fulfillment of these predictions. Safe in the States, before rebellion, 
from all Federal interference, slavery has come out from its shelter imder 
the State constitutions and laws, to assail the national life. It will surely 
die, pierced by its own fangs and stings. 

" What matter now how it dies, whether as a consequence or as an ob- 
ject of the war ? To me it seems that Providence indicates clearly enough 
how the end of slavery must come. It comes in rebel States by military 



388 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

order, decree or proclamation, not to be disregarded or set aside in any 
event as a nullity, but maintained and executed with perfect good faith to 
all the enfranchised ; and it will come in loyal slave States by the uncon- 
strained action of the people and their Legislatures, aided freely and gen- 
erously by their brethren of the free States. I may be mistaken in this, 
but if I am, another and a better way may be revealed. " 

" Meantime, it seems to me very necessary to say distinctly what many 
shrink from saying. The American blacks must be called into this con- 
flict, not as cattle, not even as contrabands, but as men. In the free States 
and in the rebel States, by the proclamation they are free men. The Attor- 
ney-General, in an opinion which defies refutation, has pronounced these 
freemen citizens of the United States. Let, then, the example of Andrew 
Jackson, who did not hesitate to oppose colored regiments to British inva- 
sion, be fearlessly followed. Let these blacks — acclimated, familiar with 
the coimtry, capable of great endurance — receive suitable military organi- 
zation and do their part. We need their good-will, and must make them 
our friends by showing ourselves to be their friends. "We must have them 
for guides, for scouts, for all military service in camps or field, for which 
they are qualified. Thus employed, from a burden they will become a 
support, and the hazards, privations, and labors of white soldiers will be 
proportionally diminished. 

"Above all, gentlemen, let no doubt rest on our resolution to sustain 
with all our hearts and with all our means the soldiers now in arms for 
the republic. Let their ranks be filled up ; let their supplies be sufficient 
and regular ; let their pay be sure. Let nothing be wanting to them which 
can insm*e activity and efficiency. Let each brave officer and man realize 
that his country's love attends him, and, inspired by this thought, let 
him dare and do all that is possible to be dared and done. 

" So, with the blessing of God, we will make a glorious future sure. 
I see it rising before me, how beautiful and how grand ! There is no time to 
speak of it now ; but from all quarters of the land comes the voice of the 
sovereign people rebuking faction, denouncing treason, and proclaiming 
the indivisible unity of the republic, and in this Heaven-inspired union of 
the people for the sake of the Union is the sure promise of that sj)lendid 
hereafter." 

To the President. 

" Philadelphia, April 22, 1S63. 
". . . . My purpose in visiting Philadelphia and New York at this 
time is to ascertain if a loan, say of fifty millions, to pay off all arrears, 
cannot now be obtained. The only difficulty I find in the way springs 
from the painful uncertainty generally prevalent as to the future of the 
war. Notwithstanding this, however, I hope to succeed ; and I am greatly 
cheered by the resolved determination which appears to animate all our 
friends. This is a sentiment which can be easily turned into triumphant 
gladness by the achievement of some important successes, and above all 



CAUSES OF FINANCIAL SUCCESS. 339 

by the development of some settled and promising plan for the successful 
termination of the contest. I have, since I came here, heard a good deal 
of the facility of communication with the rebels by their friends in loyal 
States. A lady stated to me the other day — Sunday — that she wrote about 
the last of March to some friends in South Carolina, announcing the death 
of a relative, and that she had just received a reply. The time for going 
and returning was only a little more than three weeks. A regular mail 
goes to Nassau under our postal arrangements with Great Britain, and 
letters to the interior of the Confederacy are then forwarded by the 
blockade-runners. A large portion of these mails from Nassau get safely 
through. In fact, it is not diflScult to imagine an aiTangement by which 
nearly all might be safely landed at unfrequented spots. I do not know 
that there is any remedy for this, but if possible one should be found. . . ." 

* 

To Benjamin F. Flanders, New Orleans. 

" Waseonoton, May 23, 1863. 
" . . . . What the country may think proper to do with me is of far 
less consequence than what it is my duty to do for my country. It does 
not so much matter that my services be recognized as that they be faith- 
fully performed. Of course, I have very little inclination for any political 
arrangement which has reference to my personal future, but prefer to 
leave that to the disposition of events and the will of the people, being 
quite as willing to resume the post of private citizen as to continue in 
my present, or be transferred to any other public position. . . ." 

To the Bight Rev. Carlton Chase, Claremont, N. H. 

"Washington, May 25, 1863. 

" . . . . Accept my thanks for your very kind letter. 

" When I entered upon the duties of this Department it was with 
great self-distrust and with great reluctance ; and only in deference to the 
judgments of many persons of great worth and intelligence as well as of 
high position, who insisted that I was not at liberty to decline the post 
assigned me by the President. 

" Under an almost oppressive sense of responsibility, and not unmind- 
ful, I trust, that the builder labors in vain except the Lord buUd, I as- 
sumed, therefore, the direction of the financial concerns of this great na- 
tion. 

" In all that I have done I can say with, I think, a good conscience, 
that I have sought only to know what was right, and to do it, without 
fear, and yet without vain confidence. 

" That success has thus far attended my labors is due partly to the 
constant support of many strong and good men, who gave me their confi- 
dence early and have not yet withdrawn it ; partly to the zealous coop- 
eration of able and faithful officers and agents ; partly to the ardent pa- 
triotism of the noblest people that ever dwelt in any land ; and altogether 



390 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

to the mercy and goodness of God -who planted tliis nation, and does not 
mean, as I verily believe, to suffer that which he has planted to be plucked 
up and destroyed. 

" I am glad of your approval. It cheers and invigorates me. It is my 
hope that you will not hereafter find cause to reverse your judgment. 
That you may not, will be my continual endeavor." 

To Jay CooTce, Esq., Philadelphia. 

" 'Wasiiington, June 2, 1S63. 

" . . . . Tou informed me two or three weeks ago that you had pur- 
chased 300 shares of Philadelphia and Erie Railroad stock for me. At 
that time I was expecting means of payment from the sale of a farm in 
Ohio, and would have been glad to hold the stock for income. The sale, 
however, has not yet been effected, and I have, therefore, not been able to 
make payment. 

" This morning I have yours of yesterday, notifying me that you have 
sold the stock at an advance which gives a profit of $4,200 on the trans- 
action, and you inclose me a check for that amoimt. 

"As I had not paid for the stock, and did not contemplate purchasing 
with any view to resale, I cannot regard the profit as mine, and therefore 
return the check for $4,200. It is herewith inclosed. 

'' I am much obliged to you for your willingness to regard the money 
paid for the stock as a temporary loan from you to me. But I cannot ac- 
cept the favor. 

" When Congress, at the last session, saw fit to clothe me with very 
large powers over currency and financial movements, I determined to avoid 
every act which could give occasion to any suspicion that I would use the 
powers conferred on me to affect markets unnecessarily, or at all, with 
reference to the private advantage of anybody. To carry out this deter- 
mination faithfully, I must decline to receive any advantage from pur- 
chases or sales made with views to profits expected fi'om the rise or fall of 
market prices. 

" For these reasons I must decline to receive the check. For, in order 
to be able to render the most efiicient service to our country, it is essential 
for me to be right as well as to seem right, and to seem right as well as to 
le right." 



'o'- 



To Henry W. Hoffman, Esq., Baltimore. 

" Washingtok, June 15, 1S63. 

" . . . . When you were here a few days ago, conversing with me on 
the general subject of the course likely to be adopted by the Union men 
of Maryland, I ventured to express some ideas which you requested me 
to put in writing. I do so with pleasure ; I wish, however, to have it 
distinctly understood that I disclaim every pretense of right to interfere 
at all with the action of our Union friends; and I shall not be disap- 



BURNSIDE'S ORDER THIRTY-EIGHT. 391 

pointed if, in the exercise of their better judgment, they pay very little 
heed to any opinions of mine. My ideas are, then, briefly these : 

" 1. That the broader the platform, provided it contains the essentials 
of political faith and action, the better. 

" 3. That in all matters of State policy the platform should be adapt- 
ed, as closely as possible, to the true interests of the masses of the people. 

"3. That whatever platform may be adopted should contain a dis- 
tinct declaration in favor of emancipation as the true policy of the State ; 
leaving, if thought expedient, the question of immediate or gradual, com- 
pensated or uncompensated, for future consideration. 

"4. The platform should also contain a declaration that the Union 
men of Maryland are unconditionally such, and in favor of the most vigor- 
ous measures for the suppression of the rebellion and the restoration of 
the national authority throughout the republic. 

" 5. The platform should declare also, in the most explicit terms, that 
there is no such thing in times of rebellion as supporting the national 
Govemmeut without supporting the administration of the national Govern- 
ment ; that the administration of the national Government is confided by 
the Constitution, to the President, assisted in their several spheres of duty 
by the administrative departments ; and that, therefore, whUe the freedom 
of speech and the press should not be arbitrarily infringed, the measures 
of the President and the general policy of his administration should, 
under the present trying circumstances of the country, be sustained by all 
true patriots in a spirit of generous confidence, and not thwarted by cap- 
tious criticism or factious opposition, 

"It seems to me that upon a platform embodying these points, all true 
friends of the Union and of the national Government may stand together 
in cordial cooperation." 

To Colonel B. G. Parsons, Cleveland, Ohio. 

" WASHlNGTOIf, JVM6 15, 1968. 

" .... If Yallandigham violated any law, he should have been ar- 
rested, tried, and convicted. To arrest, try, and attempt to convict him 
now, seems very much like a confession that the Burnside court had no 
jurisdiction; if the charge be based upon the acts which were proved 
before that court. 

" I have never myself been much afraid of words ; and when men 
(Yallandigham among them) have sought to cripple the financial adminis- 
tration by misrepresentation and vilification, I have preferred to reply by ^ 
augmented efforts in the service of the country rather than by arrest and 
imprisonment. 

" You will infer from this, and not unnaturally, that I am no great 
admirer of Order No. 38. 

" Not that I am averse to arrests for suflBcient cause and in the proper 
time and place. It would have been very well to arrest Lee and Johnson, 



392 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and others, instead of allowing them to resign to enter the rebel service. 
It was very well to arrest the incipient traitors in Maryland, who were 
plotting the consummation of treason by open rebellion. But I think the 
exercise of such power ought to be reserved for grave and clear occasions, 
" But what is the use of writing this ? All I can say will change noth- 
ing. . . ." 

To Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

"Washinqton, July 25, 1868. 
" .... I return Mr. B.'s letter. I am against such a proclamation as 
he proposes. While all wise men would approve of lenity to rebellious 
citizens who return to duty, all just men would condemn the reenslave- 
ment of freedmen, in violation of the faith plighted by the President on 
the 1st day of January last." 

To John Weiss, of Boston. 

"■Washington, August 21, 1S63. 
" . . . . Every thing looks well for us now except that the war moves 
too slow and costs too much. All eyes are now turned toward Charleston, 
where we look for one of the severest, if not the severest contest known 
to history. Of course we hope for the best results ; and, unless present 
indications prove deceitful, the overthrow of the military power of the 
rebellion cannot be very far distant. Then will come — and indeed they 
are already in sight — the dangers of reconstruction. We shall need all 
the courage, constancy, and wisdom in council then, that have ever been 
needed in the field, to prevent the success of slavery upon the transferred 
field of battle. However, in this, too, I am hopeful and confident ; and 
believe that we shall come out of the contest a democracy indeed, and 
thus the strongest nation in the world." 

To E. F. Beales, Esq. 

" Washington, September 5, 18C3. 

" . . . . Tours of the 5th of August has just reached me. I appre- 
ciate, as you do, the importance of the acquisitions you suggest. I fear 
that the Juarez Government is now too entirely broken to warrant negotia- 
tions with it, but I will confer with the President and the Secretary of 
State on the subject. 

" "What a pity it is that we neglected our opportunities when the States 
of Central America were so ready to identify their fortunes with those of 
the American Union ! What a pity it is, also, that when General Scott 
took Mexico, he did not remain there and establish a protectorate ! The 
timid counsels of Whig leaders and the fears of the slaveholding oligarchy 
suppressed a policy wliich would have prevented all our present troubles, 
so far as French domination in Meiico is concerned." 



MILITARY ADMINISTRATION. 393 

To Andrew Johnson, Military Governor of Tennessee. 

" Washington, September 12, 1868. 

" . . . . Let me congratulate you tliat rebellion is driven from East 
Tennessee, your home. 

" The President read me yesterday the letter he addressed to you, touch- 
ing reorganization. It is a noble letter, and I hope all its aims will find a 
cordial response in you. 

"God ofiers men opportunities: those who wisely use them are great. 
To you is now offered an opportunity to establish the renovated institu- 
tions of Tennessee, on the basis of free labor. God grant that you may 
take it boldly. Prompt courage in the matter is indeed the highest wis- 
dom. Difficulties vanish before stout will. 

" A few months, a very few months, will decide the position of Tennes- 
see. Let her not act so as to leave the festering sore to break out anew." 

To Murat Halstead, Cincinnati. 

" Washington, September 21, 1863. 

" .... I am not responsible for the management of the war, and 
have no voice in it, except that I am not forbidden to make suggestions, 
and do so now and then, when I cannot help it. 

" You are wrong in blaming Stanton as you do. You ought to allow 
for the great difficulties of his position, and remember that it is much easier 
to criticise than to act so as to avoid even just criticism. Nor should you 
forget that a war managed by a President, a commanding-general, and a 
Secretary, cannot, especially where the great differences of temperament, 
wishes, and intellectual characteristics, are taken into the account, reason- 
ably be expected to be conducted in the best possible manner. This con- 
dition can only be remedied by the President himself. Don't be too impa- 
tient." 

To Bev. Joshua Leavitt, New YorTc. 

" Washington, October 7, 1863. 

" . . . . Receive my warm thanks for your kind, generous, warm- 
hearted, old-time letter. 

"And do not mistake me. If I know my own heart, a judicial would 
be more agreeable to my personal feelings than any political position. So 
I have felt for years, but Providence has kept me hitherto in political posi- 
tions, and I now think I have done more good in them than I could have 
effected on the bench. And so I think also concerning the future. Per- 
haps I am over-confident ; but I really feel as if, with God's blessing, I 
could administer the Government of this country so as to secure and imper- 
dibilize (there's a new word for you) our institutions : and create a party, 
fundamentally and thoroughly democratic, which would guarantee a suc- 
cession of successful administrations. I may be over-confident, I say ; and 
I shall take it as a sign that I am, if the people do not call for me, and 
shall be content. 



394 LtFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" God does not need any of us, and I know very well that Ms world 
and work will go on all the same whether I live or die, just as he pleases 
to order. He is working now, and oh, how sublimely ! I tremble when 
I think how little people or administration yet realize the dread signifi- 
cance of passing events. In the midst of such great tilings I dare not ash 
any thing except to work in my place, whatever that place may be. I 
assert no claim ; I recognize only obligation. Neither friends nor country 
owe me any thing : I owe to them all that I can do for both. And there 
I leave the matter. I know that many good and true men desire that 
my services may be required in the highest sphere of administration, and 
perhaps there is enough of popular confidence in me to warrant their be- 
lief that their desires might be realized without extraordinary exertions. 
But I certainly shall not complain if those exertions are not put forth : I 
shall have no right to complain ; tu) right, and I hope leas inclination. . . ." 

To Horace Greeley. 

" Washington, October 9, 1868. 

" .... It was my duty to reply promptly to your last letters. My 
only plea in mitigation of censure is the constant pressure of perplexing 
duties, which, as Mr. Wirt used to say, ' put me out of time for decent 
correspondence.' I am still out of time, but I must not longer omit this 
duty. 

" Be assured that I appreciate fully the patriotic spirit in which your 
letter was written. No man has a right to ask a moment's consideration 
when public interests require that it should be withheld ; and I think I 
can truly say that I have never hesitated to give way to others, and even 
to put others forward when I might have taken myself the place of promi- 
nence, when the good of the cause of freedom and just government seemed 
to require it. I hope I love our country, and the cause of human progress, 
so intimately connected with the fate of our country, too well to allow any 
personal wishes or aspirations — from which I do not claim to be more free 
than other men — to interfere with my duty to her or it. 

" I am proud of your approval and your preference. It is a great re- 
ward for the little I have done to have it. No man has so powerfully pro- 
moted the increase of just sentiments concerning political rights and duties 
as you have done, through speech and press. Postage reform, the home- 
stead, liberality toward immigrants, freedom of the Territories, constitu- 
tional emancipation, and all kindred movements, have found in you a con- 
stant advocate, animated by genuine principle, and therefore steadfast amid 
the changing currents of expediency. The immense audiences which have 
heard your voice through the Tribune have been constantly inspired by 
generous and progressive sentiments. Because of this, I greatly value your 
approval and that confidence which induces you to express a preference 
for me as the next Union candidate for the chief magistracy. Should cir- 
cumstances justify your final action in accordance with this preference, and 



THE FKENCH DECIMAL SYSTEM 

should it be my lot (which does not now seem nrobable e„o„„l, * o- . 
me mueh) to be called to that responsible position Stalet t ^hlt 
ever capacty God has given me, and just the same spirit anlindustrt 
which I have brought to other public duties. ShouldVe clierfe", on 

r^^ji^irn^staii^Td^Lr »' '» ^-^ "° - 
rndit^hisxtttiiX^o'rrhr^iirsrr 

substantially the same views; aud^you will havfri: d a gr^^^lt ? 

S a and tr ' '""'.^-«"'-'' ""-" d"Me him between tieMI 
State and the progressive policy, advances slowly but advances steadUv 
On the whole, when we thmk of the short time and immenrd s anct £ 

uctober, 1863, we cannot be dissatisfied with results. ...» 

To R B. Warden, of Ohio. 
u ^r ^ " ^-iSHiNGTON, October 23, 1863. 

.... Yours of the 20th is received, and touches me deeply ThP 

h^t iusf" r'^' '""^ "^^" my profoundest sympathies ; and li is fi 
that JUS such a monument as your book will make for him should be 
constructed by your hand. Is it the will of God that the pr'dorWood 
poured out m this terrible struggle shall nourish the vine heTnted i^ 

reTon^ z^o^;i%riftr -^^^nr "'-^^ '- -^^^^^^^ 

"I never was an abolitionist of that school which taueht that ih.r. 
oakl th. "^ "'''''?''' ^^ ^^° ^^- «- t«^- in the quariy and the 

To His Excellency, M. Mercier, Minister of France. 

u T 1. ""^^SHiNGTON, 2?ecem5er27, 1863 



396 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

satisfaction of seeing other nations following her wise example, and con- 
tributing to the extension, for the benefit of mankind, of the system origi- 
nated by her wisdom and courage — for courage as well as wisdom was 
required for the reform. 

"In my report of 1863, I suggested the expediency of conforming the 
American half-eagle to the British sovereign. More reflection has inclined 
me to the opinion that the desired imiformity of coinage may be better 
obtained by equalizing the American gold dollar with the five-franc piece 
of France. 

" In our conversation yesterday, you were kind enough to say that, dur- 
ing your proposed visit to France, you would give some thought to this 
interesting subject. 

" All friends of the progress of nations will be grateful if through the 
action of the Imperial Government and that of the United States, some- 
thing may be done, effectually, toward giving to the commerce of the world 
common measures and expressions of value." * 

To Major- General Q. A. Gillmore, near Charleston. 

" Washington, December 29, 1863. 

" . . . . Ever since our disasters before Richmond, in 1863, it has 
seemed to me that instead of fighting our way southward through Virginia, 
our immediate efforts in the interior should be confined to the repossession 
of East Tennessee and of the Mississippi Elver, and that all other opera- 
tions should be conducted from the coast, supplied by sea transportation, 
and directed to the reoccupatlon and reorganization on the free-labor and 
free-sufirage basis of State after State, from the Gulf northward as rapidly 
as possible. With East Tennessee and the Mississippi in our possession, it 
seemed to me that powerful aid could be contributed to these operations, 
and that they could not fall to be successful. 

" It Is of great Importance to press the war to the earliest possible ter- 
mination ; and the reestabllshment of loyal State governments under free 
State constitutions, will do much to afford rallylng-points for all the loyalty 
of the South of whatever physical complexion, and to discourage exceed- 
ingly the hope of restoring the rebel sway. It will mark the two civiliza- 
tions — or rather the civilization of freedom and the barbarism of slavery — 
by distinctly recognizable limits. When the former has been once fairly 
established, I havd no fear of the latter. 

" Besides my desire for the secure and permanent reestabllshment of 
Union at the earliest possible time, I feel a special anxiety for prompt and 

' In a letter of even date with this to M. Mercier, Mr. Chase in a note to his old 
friend Colonel John F. Morse, then at New Orleans, said : " I do not wonder at your 
surprise in finding yourself at an antislavery- meeting in New Orleans. Who would 
have predicted the possibility of such a thing when you introduced into the Ohio 
Legislature the bill I prepared to repeal odious discriminations against black people 
fourteen years ago ? " 



FINANCIAL DANGERS, 397 

efficient action arising from my responsibilities as head of the Treasury 
Department. Thus far my administration has been successful beyond my 
hopes, but I can see clearly that we can go no further without heavy taxa- 
tion ; and he has read history to little purpose who does not know that 
heavy taxes will excite discontent ; and that the possibility of crippled 
finances and deranged payments and greater evils is not so remote as one 
could wish. We must put forth all our strength if we want to come out 
of the struggle with success, and with honor and unsullied credit. . . ." 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

LETTEES AND EXTRACTS OF LETTERS WRITTEN BETWEEN JANTAKT 

1, 1864, AND JUNE 30, 1864. 

To 8. F. Carey, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

" 'WAsniNaTON', January 5, 1S64. 

". . . . rr^HE law giving a share of seizures to informers is yery 
JL old. 

" It is difBcult to say whether any oflBcer should be stimulated to extra 
diligence by the prospect of contiugent rewards. In many cases compensa- 
tions are paid by percentages, and no government has yet found itself able 
to get along without allowing such compensation in some cases. So, too, 
our naval officers and seamen are stimulated to activity by the large share 
in prizes captured by them. Salvage is warranted on the same principle. 
Merchants and lawyers, too, are often paid by commission. 

" Certainly it would be best if we could have a system of fair compen- 
sation by salaries, and then the complete devotion by the officer of all his 
time and labor and skill to the public service. The true idea of public 
official duty requires this ; at least during all the time required for official 
labors. I have myself practised upon this principle, and I require all the 
officers of the Department, except those who have contingent compensa- 
tion fixed by law, to act upon it also. . . ." 

To Eev. Br. Joshua Leavitt, New YorTc. 

" WASHrNGTOif, January 24, 1S64. 
" Some time ago I received a letter from you about the publication of 
your article on the Monroe doctrine. My impression is that I did not re- 
ply ; my intention to do so being frustrated by demands on my time and 
attention which pushed it out of my thoughts for the time. Recently my 
recollection was revived by receiving a copy of the pamphlet ; and I now 
wish to say that if in consequence of my remissness you have been person- 
ally put to any inconvenience, I want the privilege of reimbursing it to 
you. I am not a rich man, £lnd I am glad to be able to say that I have be- 
come poorer instead of richer by reason of jjublic employments ; still, I cau 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 390 

perhaps better aflFord to pay such a contribution to a public object than 
most editors of religious newspapers. 

" In the main I concur in your views ; wholly in their principle and spirit. 
I believe that the statesmen whose views were represented by Mr. Monroe's 
message — including Mr. Monroe himself — intended to be understood in the 
plain sense of the language employed ; meant that any attempt to force the 
European system upon America would be dangerous to our safety, and that 
any interference with any American government by European powers for 
the purpose of oppressing it or forcibly controlling its destiny would be 
regarded as an unfriendly manifestation. In this sense the declaration was 
understood and accepted by the American people, and became a cardinal 
principle of American policy. After all, however, it is not so important to 
inquire into the history as into the soundness of the doctrine and the pro- 
priety of insisting on its application to recent events in San Domingo and 
Mexico. 

" It certainly would have suited my temper and taste much better to 
do so ; and yet I cannot blame Mr. Seward for not having done so. He 
never renounced it ; he only forebore to insist on it, when to insist would 
only have been counted a menace and would have precipitated recogni- 
tion of the rebel Confederacy — and that recognition would have been fol- 
lowed by war. . . . 

" But I have written more than I intended. Have you seen Baptist 
Noel's book on our American rebellion ? He errs sadly in his account of 
parties as connected with slavery. Can't you write an article like that on 
the Monroe doctrine, giving the true view of political action as influenced 
successively by the Liberty party and the Independent Democracy — or, as 
our Whig friends preferred to call it — the ' Free-Soil party ? ' Who could 
do this so well as ycfu ? " 

To Gerrit Smith, Peterdoro, JVew TorTc. 

" "Washington, March 2, 1864. 

" .... I have just read your letter to your neighbors, and take a 
moment— not to reply to it — ^but to express my gratification to be remem- 
bered by you, whom I so greatly honor. 

" Your letter does not command my assent in all things, but in most it 
does. I heartily agree that all our energies and all our efforts and all our 
thoughts ought to be enlisted in the work of suppressing the rebellion. 

" It is by no act of mine that my name has been brought into discus- 
sion in connection with the succession. If I could have my way, I would 
not have it uttered by a living soul in that connection — nor any other name 
— ^until it would be absolutely necessary in order to make a choice. 

" I do not agree with you that slavery should not be discussed. There 
are powerful influences at work to bring back the insurgent States with 
slavery. This must be resisted. An amendment of the Constitution pro- 
hibiting slavery would be an era in the world's history. Reconstitute the 



too LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

States by the voluntary action of their several populations, and with con- 
stitutions prohibiting slavery, and then crown the work by a national 
prohibition. How grand that would be ! 

" The amnesty proclamation seems to fail. I don't like the qualifica- 
tion in the oath required ; nor the limitation of the right of suifrage to 
those who take the oath, and are otherwise qualified according to the 
State laws in force before rebellion. I fear these are fiital concessions. 
Why should not all soldiers who fight for their country vote in it? 
Why should not the intelligent colored man of Louisiana have a voice as 
a free citizen in restoring and maintaining loyal ascendency ? . . . " 

To William E. Bodge, New YorTc City. 

•' Wabhtngton, March 81, 1864. 

" .... I thank you for transmitting to me a copy of the resolutions 
of the Chamber of Commerce, adopted on the 17th instant. 

"The merchants of New York may rest assured that I shall most 
gladly do whatever for me is possible for the security and prosperity of 
busiaess. 

"But it must be borne in mind that nothing short of a return to 
specie payments can secure stability in the value of currency. Even specie 
payments, it is well known, do not fully accomplish that object. The 
value of money, as well as of all other subjects, fluctuates in obedience to 
great laws, the operations of which cannot always be foreseen or provided 
for. 

"Our present difficulties arise mainly from excessive expenditure 
without adequate taxation. They arise in almost an equal degree from 
the presence in the channels of circulation of an element — I mean the notes 
of State banks — which cannot be regulated or even understood by the 
national authorities. 

"If these two causes of disturbance be removed by the action of Con- 
gress, and we have what I greatly hope, vigor and success in the war, I 
see no reason why resumption of specie payments need be very long 
deferred. 

" I have no control over the volume of expenditure or over the amount 
of taxation, or over the volume of circulation as afiected by the issues of 
State banks, or over the conduct of the war. I feel myself like one un- 
dertaking to navigate a ship without a chart among forces of winds and 
currents which he cannot measure or manage. I can only do my best, 
hoping the best, and trusting Hiin with whom are the issues of all events." 

To Joshua Leamtt, J). D., New YorTc. 

" Washington, March SI, 1864. 
". . . . If the 'judicious and patriotic' men of business to whom you 
refer will devote their energies to induce Congress to tax the local bank 
circulation out of existence, they will be much better employed than in 



/ 



DEPKECIATION OF THE NATIONAL CUKRENCT. 401 

suggesting large sacrifices of Government securities in order to create 
vacuums to be filled by the expansion of that circulation. "We need econ- 
omy, energy in the war, taxation to one-half the amount of our expendi- 
ture, and an exclusive national currency. Give me these things, and I 
■will undertake to resume specie payments in six months, and I will main- 
tain them through the war. ..." 

To Thaddeus Stevens, House of Representatives. 

" Washington, April 11, 1864. 
" . . . . The circulation of corporation notes as money under dissimilar 
laws of different States contributes largely to the depreciation of the na- 
tional currency, and constitutes at this moment a most serious danger to 
the national finances. 

"The laws making United States notes a legal tender in payment of 
debts did not except debts evidenced by these notes; and therefore 
operated as a virtual repeal of the State laws by which the corporations 
issuing them were required to redeem them in coin. Availing themselves 
of this legislation, these corporations have made the United States notes 
the basis of their issues, and inasmuch as these notes themselves cannot at 
present be exchanged for coin, redemption has become merely nominal. 
No reduction in the volume of national issues, under these circumstances, 
can work material benefit to the circulation, for every such reduction 
merely makes room for fresh corporation issues, which are not always or 
even generally restricted to the amount of United States notes withdrawn. 
Thus the issues of the State corporations create a constantly-increasing 
excess in the volume of currency as compared with the requirements of 
actual transactions ; and this excess works progressive depreciation. 

" To arrest this depreciation is an absolute necessity, and to effect this 
object I see no better or more certain means than judicious measures for 
the exclusion from circulation of all notes intended to circulate as money, 
and not authorized by national legislation. 

" There can be no hardship in such measures, for all corporations now 
authorized to issue notes under State laws can be changed by proper pro- 
ceedings into national banking associations. The only efiect will be to 
bring all circulation under national control and prevent increase without 
the sanction of Congress. And not only is there no hardship, but the 
security which will be given by a uniform currency to all transactions of 
business will be a positive advantage to all institutions of discount. 
Even if there be in some cases a degree of hardship, it is only that which 
should be, and by patriotic and loyal institutions will be, cheerfully borne 
as a sacrifice to the public safety and welfare. 

" To the convenience of the people in the payment of internal taxes ; 
to the negotiation of loans, and to the faithful discharge of national obli- 
gations to the army, the navy, and the public creditors of every class, one 
currency and that a national currency, is indispensable. 
26 



402 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

"The time seems to have come when Congress, under the Constitution, 
should provide such a currency, and make it the exclusive circulation oi 
the country, by asserting and maintaining the doctrine that the currency 
belongs to the nation, and that the emission of notes for circulation as mo- 
ney by private, municipal or State authority is as indefensible as the emis- 
sion of coin by the same authority, and as subject to restriction and pro- 
hibition by Congress under the Constitution. ..." 

To the President. 

" WASmNQTON, April 14, 18&4. 

" . . . . Two measures are of great importance : the exclusion from 
circulation of all credit circulation not authorized by Congress, and in- 
creased taxation. If Congress will make the national banking system 
safe and at the same time acceptable, and enact a tax law which will yield, 
with duties on imports, four hundred millions of revenue — or half at least 
of the expenditure — there will be no need to fear financial disasters, imless 
we shall have unexpected military disasters. 

" I have taken the liberty heretofore, and perhaps too pertinaciously, 
to urge all possible economy compatible with efficiency ; but I hope that 
the importance of it will be thought a sufficient justification. 

" I am glad to imderstand that the military work of suppressing the 
rebellion is now to be prosecuted with system and vigor. With system 
and vigor and economy in the conduct of the war, and with the financial 
measures I have indicated, we may confidently expect, through the Divine 
favor, an early and successful termination of the struggle, and the restora- 
tion of peace with an unbroken Union of free States. ..." 

To S. JDeWitt Bloodgood, New TorTc. 

"Washington, May 9, 1864. 

" . . . . Our financial future, as I see it, is clouded only by military and 
legislative uncertainties. If Congress will give me the laws I need for the 
support of the public credit, such as the amended banking law, a rightly 
framed loan bill and a good tax bill, and if the President wUl insure me 
proper administrative support by economizing expenditures and the efiiec- 
tive application of actual disbursements, I can resume specie payments and 
can maintain them when resumed. Doubtless it would be unwise to re- 
sume so suddenly, but it certainly would be well to have the power to do 
so, and it would be well to use the power in a gradual and not distant 
resumption. 

" My whole plan has been that of a bullionist and not that of a mere 
paper-money man. I have been obliged by necessity to substitute paper 
for specie for a time, but I never have lost sight of the necessity of resump- 
tion ; nor, to use a military phrase, have I ever suffered my communica- 
tions vrith my base of operations to be broken. 

" The great error which my opponents have committed is, in my judg- 



EXPENSES OF THE GOVERNMENT. 403 

ment, their endeavor to maintain a system of State banking unsuitcd to the 
wants of a great nation obliged to incur a large debt. The national bank- 
ing system is a necessary, and indeed an inevitable step iu our financial 
progress to a more perfect political Union. Had such a system existed, 
or rather had such a system been possible, at the beginning of the war, 
specie payments need never have been stopped. 

"But I must not enlarge. Before closiug, however, let me say that I 
have no intention of offering a more advantageous loan to investors than 
the ten-forties. I have sometimes thought of offering to the whole people 
for a time their choice of 10-40, 5-20, or '81 bonds, with an abatement from 
the market rate which would give a slight advantage over subscriptions at 
par or purchase in an ordinary market. It has occurred to me that such 
an offer at one-quarter or one-half, or even one per cent, below the true 
price (considering the ten-forties as par), and continued open, say for fifteen, 
twenty, or even thirty days, would bring very large subscriptions. I have 
also thought of a legal tender, bearing interest at six per cent, compounded 
every six months, and payable with the whole interest three years from 
date ; or of a seven-thirty note with interest payable iu lawful money and 
without the character of a legal tender." 

To Richard Smithy Cincinnati. 

" Washington, May 27, 1S64. 

" The expenses of the Government average $2,500,000 ; they often exceed 
that amount. — $2,500,000 a day is, in round numbers, $66,000,000 a month. 
There are two ways to provide this sum : one is by borrowing, the other is 
by issuing legal-tender notes in some form. Suppose I advertise for a loan 
of sixty -five millions to pay the expenses of one month at six per cent., at 
what rate would the bonds be taken ? The six per cent, bonds of 1881 
sold yesterday at 114. The real value, accrued interest deducted, is be- 
tween 112 and 112^^. Now, suppose sixty-five millions put on the market, 
what price could be obtained ? Possibly 110, Suppose another sixty-five 
millions put on the market next month : what price then ? Doubtful if 
par. It is easy to see that to obtain money by loans in this way, however 
it might suit the ideas of some people, who suppose that the capacity of 
absorbing loans is infinite, would hardly work in practice. 

"All that can be done with loans in any form is to absorb what natu- 
rally seeks investment in this description of securities ; and if this capacity 
of absorption be crowded, the effect of the glut will be found in a rapid 
diminution in the price of bonds until they become entirely imavaUable. 

" How idle it is, then, to clamor about raising money exclusively by 
loans ! — about selling the bonds for what they will bring, and all that 1 
Under existing circumstances, the best that can possibly be done is, to get 
all that can be got by loans without greatly damaging those already in 
the market, and to meet the remainder of expenses by legal tenders so 
made as to inflate the circulation as little as possible. It was no choice of 



404 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

mine to issue the 5 per cent, legal tenders ; it was a necessity created by 
the inadequacy of revenues as compared with expenditures, and by the 
impossibility of making loans at any rate of interest. 

" It is a great mistake, however, to think that the currency is inflated 
by the amount of those issues. About two hundred millions of notes were 
issued. The issue no doubt inflated the currency, but the issue of forty 
or fifty millions of non-paying legal tenders would have inflated it equally. 
The truth is that the currency was surcharged when the issue began, and 
the true remedy was taxation enough to pay so large a proportion of ex- 
penses that the residue could have been provided for by loans. And the 
real remedy for present evils is, greater taxation, diminished expenditure, 
and preparation for a return to specie i^ayments. 

" . . . . What I say is, that the national Government has been obliged 
to issue legal-tender notes, and that I do not see any necessity for the 
issue of paper money by the State banks. The two circulations together 
make the inflation. Which can be withdrawn with the greatest advantage 
to the Government? This is the present question: not what causes the 
inflation, I know of no just claim which the State banks have to make 
money for the country. I know that it is a necessity for the nation to 
have the control of the circulation of the nation. I think, then, that the 
State bank currency should be withdrawn, and that no currency should be 
allowed except the national currency. So far as this consists of legal 
tenders, their issue and circulation are a direct gain to the country, and if 
not issued in excess the benefit would be unmixed. So far as it consists 
of notes of national banks, it is recommended by the indispensable neces- 
sity of such institutions to make a uniform national currency permanent ; 
by the benefits derived from the support afforded by them to the credit of 
Government bonds, and by the convenience and utility of those institutions 
to the Government in other iraj)ortant respects. 

" .... I hope that, if I cannot altogether prevent inflation, I do all 
that is possible under existing circumstances. I hope that the legislation 
of Congress at this session, though long delayed, and the victories of our 
armies, though eager expectation remains still imsatisfied, will soon enable 
us to pay more as we go, and make it possible to do so by reducing and 
systematizing expenditures." 

To Miss Mary A. Snyder^ Miss Eliza 8. Buffield, and other Ladies of Phila- 
delphia. 

"Washington, June 17, 1864. 

" .... I am greatly obliged by your present and by the kind note 
which accompanied it. The picture was intended to remind me of my 
work in the establishment of the national banking system. If the results 
of that system are such as I hope, I shall be satisfied. I have sought to 
give a national currency to the country, so sound that no laboring man 
shall be cheated of his wages by bank insolvency, and so uniform that a 
traveler may pay his bills without exchange of money from one end of 



TWO GRAND OBJECTS. 405 

the land to fhe otlier. I have souglit, also, while securing such a currency, 
to establish such foundations of national credit in the security, value, and 
diffusion of national bonds, that we may be able to meet hereafter with 
energy and promptitude any dangers arising from abroad, while disunion 
will be impossible at home. Time must try my work and test its utility 
or inutility ; I claim only to have sought the best ways of service to our 
country. ..." 

To William Cullen Bryant, New York. 

"Washington, Jvne 30, 1S64. 

" . . . . Your good opinion has always been one of my chief treasures, 
because it is the honest opinion of a candid and just observer. I have 
never expected it to extend to all the measures the exigencies of the coun- 
try have compelled me to adopt ; and yet, looking back, I can see now no 
measure which my judgment condemns except that required by the New 
York banks, the issue of legal-tender coupons. My grand objects have been, 
first, to provide for the vast demands of the war, and second, the substitu- 
tion- of a national bank-note currency for State bank-note currency, and 
through the last resumption of specie payments, and so permanence and 
strength in the financial order. I think if we could comjiare notes, very 
little difference would be found between our opinions. 

But it is of little importance to the country now what my financial 
views may be. A sense of duty to myself and to the country — imperative 
you will think, I hope, it must have been — constrained me yesterday to 
tender my resignation to the President, and it has been accepted to-day. 
So I am no longer Secretary. If I feel some regret that I cannot carry out 
my ideas to consummation, it is compensated by the sense of relief from 
crushing responsibilities. 

*' With this act terminates, I trust, my whole connection with oflS.cial 
life. There has never been any thing for me but opportunity for work ; 
and I gladly surrender all claims upon it to those who may prize it 
more. . . ." 



CHAPTEE XL. 



STOTMAKY — MR. CHASe's FmANCIAL OBJECTS ^TO OBTAIN SUPPLIES 

TO PEOVIDE A PEEMANENT CUBKENCT — TO PEOVIDE A FUND- 

ESTQ SYSTEM AND SECI7EE CONTEOLLABILITY OF THE PUBLIC 

DEBT OBJECTIONS TO LONG BONDS — TO SECUEE EAELY EE- 

SUMPTION — GENEEAL EFFECTS OF HIS MEASUEES LETTEES TO 

COLONEL VAII BUEEN AND SECEETAHY FESSENDEN. 

IN all his financial measures, Mr. Chase kept steadily in view 
three great objects : 

1. To establish satisfactory relations between the public cred- 
it and the productive industry of the country ; in other words, to 
obtain supphes for the army and the navy. The suspension of 
the banks put an end to the first and most obvious resort — loans 
of gold — and made new methods indispensable. It was then 
that the Secretary resorted to legal-tender notes, made them the 
the currency of the country, and borrowed them as cash. The 
patriotism of the people came to the aid of the labors of the 
Treasury and the legislation of Congress; and the first great 
object was made secure. 

2. To provide against disastrous financial results on the re- 
turn of peace. In Mr. Chase's judgment, this could most safely 
be accomplished by the estabhshment of a national currency, as 
was done by the acts of Congress authorizing national banking as- 
sociations. At the beginning of the war, there were about 1,500 
State banks in existence, and their proprietors and officers sought 
to make the paper of these institutions the currency of the coun- 
try. The Secretary was inflexible against this, and confined his 



A FUNDING SYSTEM. 407 

loans to "greenbacks," but lie did not wisb to diive out the 
State bank circulation, nor did he think it exactly honest to do 
so, without giving them a just equivalent, and so neutralize 
their opposition to a national currency, and as far as possible 
make them allies instead of enemies. And though there was a 
good deal of antagonism between the Secretary and some of the 
more prominent representatives of the State bank system, and 
Mr. Chase was resolute in his purpose to suppress their circulat- 
ing notes, if he could, he did not fail to admit that they had 
rendered great and important services. The national banks were 
certain, however, in many ways, to be inestimably more useful 
than the State banks, as well dm-ing the war as in time of peace. 
Besides which, Mr. Chase believed not only in the constitutional 
right of the Federal Government to control the circulation, 
but he believed it to be the duty of the Government to do so. 
And it was in the spirit of this belief that he wrote to Mrs. 
Sprague, December 14, 1869 : " I read an opinion yesterday 
which cost me no little labor ; and I was glad to have the privi- 
lege of reading it ; for I think it of great importance to all the 
business interests of the country, and especially to men and 
women who depend on their daily labor for daily livelihood. 
It simply affirms the power of Congress to furnish the money 
circulation of the country, whether in coin or credit, and restrain 
the issue of cmTency by State banks and individuals, without 
authority of national law." ' 

3. The third division of labor was to provide a funding sys- 
tem. It was necessary, and unavoidable, during the rebellion, 
that every means of credit should be used. The Secretary bor- 
rowed in every way that he could at reasonable rates, and hence 
the adoption of different forms of public obligations : temporary 
loans, certificates of indebtedness, Y-30 notes, compound-interest 
notes. Treasury notes payable after one and two years, etc. ; it 
being found by experience that the form which suited one hold- 
er did not suit another, while inordinate demands for the army 
and navy made it necessary that every dollar should be had 
which could be raised under any form. 

But it was necessary also to have funding loans into which 
all these temporary loans could be ultimately merged. To this 

* This was in, the case of the Veazie Bank against Fenno. 8 Wallace, 538. 



408 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

end Mr. Chase establislied the 6-20 and the 10-40 loans. He 
believed that with the prestige of the 5-20 loan, and certain that 
a 10-40 five per cent, bond was intrinsically worth par, all the 
sums needed for the war could be obtained by the sale of 10-40's 
and by temporary loans. It was into 10-40's that Mr. Chase 
intended — had he remained at the head of the Treasury — 
ultimately to consolidate the national debt. He beheved this 
could be done on the retm-n of peace, and he did not change 
his opinion upon this subject when peace was restored to the 
country, and a different policy was adopted. The advantages 
of a form of loan, where the option of payment or continuance, 
after short terms, is with the Government, are obvious. The 
experience of the Treasury confirms what is thus said to be 
obvious. In President Pierce's time, there were outstanding 
six principal descriptions of debt ; that is to say, the loans of 
1842, 1843, 1846, 1847, 1848, and the Texas indemnity, payable 
respectively after 1862, 1853, 1856, 1868, and 1865 ; two of 
them being payable, therefore, during President Pierce's term, 
and the others in five, eight, and eleven years from the end of 
it. The Government, having the means, desired to anticipate pay- 
ment of these loans, and did anticipate payment of more than half 
the whole amount. It paid $48,060,787.37 at premiums amount- 
ing to $4,609,882.31. The Texas indemnity was a five per cent, 
loan matm-ing after 1865. Of course it had the longest time to 
run. The books of the Treasury Department will show what 
premiums were paid ; but it is worth noticing that Congress in 
1854 authorized the payment of $2,000,000 mainly for the privi- 
lege of anticipating the payment of $5,000,000 of this same 
indemnity. 

For the plan of long loans Mr. Chase had a great aversion. 
" It subverts the principle," he said in a letter to Jay Cooke, 
May 11, 1866, " upon which I arranged the whole system of 
loans. It was one of my leading purposes to introduce into 
our financial methods the principle of controllability. I could 
never consent that the people should be subjected to the money- 
lenders, but insist that the money-lenders should rather be sub- 
jected to the people. Capital always takes care of itself. It 
organizes itself easily, and acts with energy. Labor does not 
easily organize itself, nor can it act with energy, nor take care 



OBJECTIONS TO LONG LOANS. 409 

of itseK so efficiently. Tlie reason is plain — capital is the prop- 
erty of the few and labor of the many. Now, to insure the 
right of the people to make the best possible arrangement of 
their debt, I introduced the principle of redeemability after 
short periods, and payability at fixed but remoter dates. Thus 
the 5-20 loan was made redeemaJble at any time after five years 
and payable twenty years after date : that is to say, the people 
have a right to pay off that loan at any time during the fifteen 
years between the end of five and the end of twenty years. . . . 
So, too, the 10-40 loan at five per cent, was made redeemable 
after ten and payable after forty years. My purpose was, to 
enable the Government to negotiate cheaper loans — at four to 
five per cent. — ^in the intervals during which the right of redemp- 
tion was in its hands. This arrangement was manifestly in the 
interest of the people, and was not for the benefit of any par- 
ticular class. And I do not doubt that a wise administration of 
affairs will produce such a state of prosperity that the interest 
upon our debt can be reduced, in the course of ten ^r fifteen 
years, to the cheapest rate paid by any nation. "Wliy not ? " ' 

It was Mr. Chase's conviction that his measures tended to 
facilitate an easy and prompt resumption of specie payments at 
the close of the war, and had he remained in the Traasury he 
would certainly have attempted to resume within a few months 
after Lee's surrender. It was his belief that this was practicable 
and safe at any time within a year after that event, and that it 
might have been effected then with far less embarrassment and 
danger than at a future time. In his judgment, every year's de- 
lay added to the importance of the subject, since greater diffi- 
culties were certain to arise as the period of inconvertibility was 

' Not only was it Mr. Chase's policy to keep the public debt within easy control 
of the Government so far as regarded the right of redemption, but he felt that there 
was no just reason why property in interest-paying securities of the Government 
should not be subject to national taxation. " It is neither morally right nor politi- 
cally safe," he wrote to Mr. Greeley in May, 1866, " to exempt bonds more than 
other property from contribution to the national burdens. Exemption from State 
taxation is necessary to preserve the national power to borrow money, from inva- 
sion, crippling, and possible destruction ; but national taxation is the exercise of the 
nation's own discretion, and will always be so exercised as not to injure the nation's 
means of defense and security. Exemption of this species of property from national 
taxation wiU certainly invite assault from political opponents, and is as dangerous as 
it is inexpedient." 



410 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

prolonged. " The way to resumption," he said, in a letter to 
Mr. Greeley, May IT, 1866, "is to resume." What his plan 
would have been he has not put upon record, further than 
to say that it would have been by diffusion of the gold supply 
rather than by contraction of the circulation. 

. . ; . The science of finance can hardly be regarded as a 
fixed science, since ifpon no other subject do men more widely 
differ. Lord Macaulay said of Pitt's sinking fund that it was a 
"juggle:" that Pitt "first persuaded himself and then the 
whole nation, including his opponents, that a new sinking fund 
which, so far as it differed from former sinking funds differed 
for the worse, would, by virtue cf some mysterious power of 
propagation belonging to money, put into the pocket of the 
public creditor great sums not taken out of the pocket of the tax- 
payer. The country hailed .... with delight and boundless 
confidence, a remedy which was no remedy. The minister was 
almost universally extolled as the greatest of financiers." (Lord 
Macaulay's Essays, " "William Pitt.") " These dangers," said Sir 
Archibald Alison — that is, the dangers to the pubhc prosperity 
likely to result from the pressure of the British national debt — 
" took strong possession of the mind of Mi\ Pitt, but instead of 
sinking in despair under the difficulties of the subject, he applied 
the energies of his understanding with the greater vigor to over- 
come them. iTor was it long before he perceived by what 
means this great object could with ease and certainty be effected. 
. . . Mr. Pitt, with the instinctive sagacity of genius. ... es- 
tablished a machine by which the vast debt of England might, 
without difficulty, be discharged." {See Alison, " History of 
Em-ope, First Series, Chapter XLL") Both these distinguished 
historians describe the same financial measure. 

Differences of opinion as wide as these have existed, and do 
still exist, toucliing many of Mr. Chase's measures. He was not 
the author of the legal-tender system, and acquiesced in it rather 
than approved it ; but he was the author of the national banking 
system, and though it cannot be denied that it is obnoxious to 
some serious and important objections, it is certain, on the other 
hand, that it is incomparably the safest and soundest banking 
system the country has ever known. The benefits of it are 
familiar to every citizen, and it seems solidly intrenched in our 



GENERAL RESULTS. 411 

business habits and systems, and is free from probability that it 
will ever become a political instrument in the hands of any Ad- 
ministration. 'No better loan system than that 'adopted by Mr. 
Chase could have been devised. Under it the public loans were 
absorbed to a surprising extent, with gi-eat steadiness, and at 
rates the most economical. Had he yielded to the clamor of 
" free-trade in bonds " and sold them for " what they would 
bring in open market," the public debt would have been largely 
enhanced, though bankers and brokers would doubtless have 
made more money than they did. The country was in the 
midst of a war of extraordinary magnitude and destructiveness, 
but, under the general operation of Mr. Chase's measures, its 
prosperity was astonishing. At the beginning of the war the 
general wealth was estimated at |16,000,000,000 ; in 1870 it 
was estimated, upon careful computation, at $25,000,000,000. 
This was an immense accumulation in the progress of a single 
decade, and shows an unparalleled increase in productive energy 
despite the pressure and waste of the war. But of com^se a 
large part of it was due to the stimulus given by Govern- 
ment demand to the inventive faculty of the country. It has 
been shown that, notwithstanding the withdrawal of 30,000 
agricultural laborers of Iowa from their home pursuits into 
the araiy, their places were more than filled by improved 
agricultural machinery and its immensely extended use.* Mr. 
Chase, after a careful investigation into a particular branch of 
industry (the boot and shoe manufacture), found that by the in- 
troduction of machinery the capacity of the country for the pro- 
duction of boots and shoes was much greater in 1864 than it was 
in 1860. Nevertheless, the substitution of a Government cur- 
rency of uniform value and admitted credit made the rewards 
of labor and invention sure and adequate, and furnished a sound 
basis for the enlarged production. 

The enhancement in prices which happened during the last 
six months of Mr. Chase's administration is not fairly chargeable 
to ihe financial management, .but rather to the prolongation of 
the war and the want of success in conducting it, and loss of 
confidence in the ultimate reestabhshment of the national au- 

' So stated by David A. Wells, the distinguished economist, in one of his reporta 
as Special Commissioner of the Revenue. 



412 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

thority. The proof is, the rapid appreciation of the national 
currency immediately upon the crushing out of the rebellion. 
Gold, from a premium of 128 per cent, on the 1st of January, 
1865, sunk to 40 per cent, on the 1st of July subsequent, with- 
out any material reduction in the aggregate sum of the circula- 
tion. 

.... The period of severest embarrassment experienced by 
the country dm*ing Mr. Chase's administration was in the interval 
between January 1, 1864, and the 30th of June of the same year. 
Mr Chase, in a letter to Colonel John D. Yan Buren, of New 
York, April IT, 1865, explains the causes of that embarrassment, 
so far as they were due to his own measures, and in a letter to 
Mr. Secretary Fessenden, August 27, 1864, describes the reme- 
dies he should have adopted had he remained at the head of the 
Treasury : 

To Colonel Yan Buren. 

" . . . . That paper, to be a useful currency, must be normally equiva- 
lent to coin by being made its actual representative, I have never doubted. 
An emergency may justify, and, at the time when the legal-tender act was 
passed, did, in my judgment, actually justify the substitution of legal-ten- 
der notes for coin. 

" I never contemplated, however, an issue of such notes beyond the 
amount which should be actually needed for the purposes of exchange, 
were the currency composed of coin and its equivalent. Nor has the 
amount of notes which can be properly regarded as currency, ever exceeded 
that limit. The largest amount ever issued was in round numbers four 
hundred and fifty millions, of which fifty millions were issued gradually in 
redemption of temporary deposits, and immediately put in course of reduc- 
tion. Of the whole amount, from ten to thirty millions — say an average 
of fifteen millions — was constantly in the Treasury. 

" The extreme exigencies created by the vast expenditures of the war, 
and the indisposition of Congress to impose the necessary taxes, raised a 
clamor for increased issues. This I resisted, and made every effort in my 
power to raise the sums needed by loans. The embarrassments thrown in 
my way by unscrupulous opposition within and without the organization 
which supported the President, hindered the success of these efforts and 
made them less fruitful than I hoped. I was compelled to use some ex- 
pedients for payment of the army and the navy, or see the defeat of all our 
efforts to save the integrity of the country. I adopted a middle course 
between the issue of more currency, properly so called — that is, notes not 
bearing interest, receivable for debts and made legal tender in payment — 
and the ordinary exchange of bonds for money by loans. 

" I issued notes bearing interest and made legal tender only for their 



FINANCIAL INTENTIONS. 413 

face amount. I was aware, of course, that these notes would to some extent 
be used as currency ; at first to a very great extent, but less and less as the 
interest should accumulate. The first issues bore an interest of five per 
cent., and on a portion of them the interest was represented by coupons 
payable every six months. The coupon notes were issued in comiiliance 
with the wishes of the New York banks, a compliance which I had reason 
to regret. It was evident, indeed, that the periodical payments of interest 
would periodically make the notes simple legal tender, and so increase 
from time to time the volume of currency, and expose the Government and 
the business community to the evil of recurring inflation and contraction. 
To prevent this evil which was magnified by interested parties, but which 
was a real evil, I withdrew from the holders, by means of loans, a large 
amount — say sixty or seventy millions — before the maturity of the first 
coupons. The remedy was eft'ectual. There was no expansion, but a con- 
traction at the time the expansion was expected, 

"At this time, believing the rate of five per cent, too low to secure the 
withdrawal of the notes from circulation as rapidly as was desirable, and 
confirmed ia my conviction of the impolicy of issuing legal-tender notes 
with interest payable periodically, I determined on the issue of compound- 
interest notes ; that is, notes made legal tender for their face, but bearing 
interest at six per cent, compounded semi-annually for three years, and 
payable only at the expiration of three years. These notes I intended to 
substitute for the five per cent, legal-tender notes, but I had no idea of in- 
creasing the volume already issued ; on the contrary, it was my purpose 
and expectation, if I could obtain the necessary legislation from Congress, 
to diminish it gradually until payments in specie could be safely resumed. 
With a uniform national currency I believed, and yet believe, that resump- 
tion could be effected with less embarrassment than has heretofore at- 
tended upon such a condition of our own or any other country. 

" It was at this time that the diflerences between myself and the Presi- 
dent led to my resignation. 

" After that the exigencies which had induced me to resort to interest- 
bearing legal tenders, induced my successor to issue the compound notes 
and to increase the certificates beyond the limits of my own intention. 
But there was still no increase of the legal tenders properly so called. 
The amount of them in the Treasury and out of the Treasury in circulation, 
when I left the Department, was about $430,000,000. On the 31st of 
March, 1865, it was $433,160,569. I had issued of compound-interest notes 
about $15,000,000, and contemplated an additional issue in substitution 
for five per cent, notes withdrawn, of about $40,000,000. The amount 
issued on the 31st of March was $156,477,650. The total amount of 
legal tenders I issued, with and without coupons attached, was about 
$211,000,000, and the amount withdrawn, at the time I left the De- 
partment, was about $80,000,000. No addition, I believe, has been 
made to the issue, and it appears to have stood, on the 1st of March, at 
$311,000,000, with an amount withdrawn of $141,477,650, leaving out- 



414 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

standing $69,522,350. Tlie whole amount is now due, or nearly due, and 
will be paid as presented or absorbed in new loans. 

" This statement will show you the true condition of the currency, 
exclusive of that furnished by the State banks and the national banks. 
The rapid conversion of the former into the latter makes it certain that 
the currency of the country will soon be wholly national. I hope that the 
converted banks will be required to substitute the national for the State 
currency, in which case no increase wiU arise from the issue of the 
former. It will be easy to prevent any increase at all by withdrawing, 
upon the issue of circulation to national banks, an amount of ordinary 
legal tenders, equal to the excess of national bank-notes issued over State 
bank-notes withdrawn, and, if necessary, issuing in their stead compound- 
interest notes, which will gradually lose the character of currency and 
take that of debt. 

" So, you see, I think the currency now certain to improve, if the 
Treasury is judiciously managed and is not overwhelmed by excessive 
expenditures. I have great confidence in its present head ; and I feel con- 
fident, too, that expenditures will be retrenched as fast as possible and 
soon brought within the resources supplied by revenues. Then borrowing 
wiU cease and reduction begin. 

"Your plan of substitution of gold accumulation for redemption would 
no doubt improve the currency. The main objection to it is the danger 
attending the custody of such accumulation. "Who will keep it ? Who 
will keep it safely ? Who will keep the keepers ? And does it not in- 
volve the substitution of all bank-note currency, however safe or surely 
convertible ? And can such a revolution be achieved ? " 

To Mr. Secretary Fessenden. ' 

" I write to fulfill the promise I made you, that I would give you my 
views on the financial situation, 

" I assume that the daily disbursements or engagements amount to an 
average of $2,700,000, counting week-days only. This will make a total 
of $848,000,000, in round figures, for the fiscal year 1864-'65. Take from 
this aggregate sum the amount required for coin interest and other coin 
payments, and supplied from customs, say $70,000,000, and there remains 
for other objects $775,000, to be supplied from loans and revenue other 
than customs. The rate of receipts from internal revenue, since the 1st of 
July, indicates an income from this source of about $18,000,000 per month, 
or $316,000,000 a year, which sum will be increased by the receipts from 
special income tax to $236,000,000, or perhaps to $240,000,000. To this 
may be added $25,000,000 from purchase and sale of the products of the 
insurgent States, if our armies are successful and the Treasury derives from 
this source all it legitimately may : $25,000,000 may be too large a sum, 
but, taking it as correctly estimated, the whole amount of revenue, except 
customs, may be set down at $265,000,000 for the year. Take this sum 



FINANCIAL. 415 

from the estimated expenditures, and you Lave $510,000,000 to be pro- 
vided by loans in some form ; say, in round numbers, $1,600,000 eacb week- 
day. If there is to be a reduction of the circulation — which I hoped and 
expected to effect at the rate of say $10,000,000 per month — the sum of 
$120,000,000 must be added. But this will not increase the total of the 
de £, but is merely a change in form. The real increase will be repre- 
p ;ed, of course, by the loans made to meet disbursements beyond revenue. 
/ " How to obtain loans is the question of pressing importance. How to 
j obtain them in such a way as to improve rather than injure the public 
credit, and the general interests dependent on the condition of the currency, 
is a question of equal importance if not of such pressing exigency. 

" When I left the Department a large amount of five per cent, legal ten- 
ders had been withdrawn ; say $80,000,000. I expected to replace them 
with compound-interest notes, leaving say $10,000,000 absolutely with- 
drawn; and I wished to add to the amount withdrawn $10,000,000 a 
month, of which a part would be replaced by the national currency issued 
by the national banks. In this way I expected to accomplish a safe and 
gradual reduction in the volume of currency, with a view to resumption of 
specie payments as soon as practicable without too great prejudice to the 
large interests involved. In this anticipation I assumed that the legisla- 
tion of Congress, though not likely to cause any considerable reduction in 
the State bank circulation, would at any rate prevent its increase. 

" The amount of liabilities beyond all immediate provision for them was 
about $13,000,000 when I left the Department, or if the intended reduction 
of $10,000,000 should be added, $23,000,000. To meet this I advertised 
the remainder of the $75,000,000 loan not already taken ; say $33,000,000, 
fixing the minimum of premiums at which bids would be accepted, at four 
per cent., below which previous offers had been declined. Some offers 
under this advertisement had already been made when I resigned, and I 
did not doubt that I should obtain offers for the whole loan, if not under 
the advertisement at that time in the papers, yet by subscriptions or under 
another advertisement. I would by these means have been enabled to clear 
the table of requisitions, and would have had ten millions left and current 
revenue to meet future demands for a few days, until I could arrange for 
the disposition of the 7-30's and 10-40's at home and of other bonds 
abroad. 

" Properly enough, my advertisement was withdrawn after my resigna- 
tion ; and it was my hope and expectation that you would find a better 
resource than the ISSl's in a loan of $50,000,000 from the banks ; some of 
the leading managers of which, hostile to me because of my support of the 
national banking system, would, I hoped and thought, be likely to give 
you the benefit of their influence. My expectations were not, however, 
realized. 

" Since then you have done what I proposed to do in appealing to the 
people for subscriptions to the 7-30'8. But as yet you have not disposed 
of any other bonds than the 10-40's. It seems to me that you should. 



416 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" The subscriptions for the 7-30's and the 10-40'3 equal my expectation 
under the present plan of disposing of them. My experience satisfied me, 
as I have already said to you, that the plan of a general agency— such as I 
adopted in procuring subscriptions to the 5-20's — was much better than 
the plan of numerous agents (national banks and others acting under them), 
with supervision by the Treasury Department which I adopted in obtain- 
ing subscriptions for the 10-40's, and which is now continued in regard to 
both 7-30's and the 10-40's, I have not forgotten the calumnies for which 
my employment of a general agent was made the occasion, and I confess it 
was principally with a view of avoiding these calumnies that I abandoned 
the general agency system. But, being satisfied that it was the best plan 
for the country, I had determined to return to it and disregarded slander 
and slanderers. If you think best to adhere to the present plan, I can 
suggest no improvement upon it ; unless it be that your advertising agent 
should be directed to pay more attention to the 10-40's, and that the efibrts 
of the national banks and others should be stimulated by larger rewards. 
I think the present compensation is, or ought to be, sufficient ; but it is so 
important to raise money enough to meet all demands promptly, that it 
seems advisable to consider whether efibrt might not be stimulated by in- 
crease. 

" When I last saw you, we had some talk about receiving certificates of 
indebtedness in payment for bonds in whole or in part. I have no doubt 
they should be so received rather than allow the present depreciation ; 
but may not the same end be accomplished without the discredit which 
will attach to their receipt for bonds ? Why not suspend all certificates 
till the outstanding amount is reduced to proper limits — say about 
|1 50,000,000 ? The reduction might be hastened by the purchase, through 
a confidential agent, of a few millions. * This operation, by improving their 
value, would greatly benefit the holders, and would at the same time en- 
hance the public credit. And if yo i resolve on a reduction of the amount 
of certificates through a loan, I tl'nk the best plan is to make them re- 
ceivable for a limited time for 10-40's. 

" Your maia reliance for funds must be on the bonds of 1881, the 5-20's, 
the 10-40's, and the 7-30's. 

" It will, I think, be well to dispose of the $33,000,000 of the 175,000,000 
loan still undisposed of; nor should I hesitate to add to this amount enough 
to make the total amount of 1881's issued (after all exchanges of the old 
7-30's are completed) some even number of hundreds of millions. These 
bonds can be disposed of now, I think, at a premium of not less than 
four per cent. Possibly more may be obtained. 

" The sale of the new 7-30's and the 10-40's should be promoted in every 
possible way. I have already suggested a general agent, but, with or 
without such an agent, liberal advertising and the most liberal encourage- 
ment to purchasers for resale, and to the national banks acting as agents, 
are important considerations. . . . 

"From these sources and by these means, with fair measure of military 



NECESSITY OF TAXATION. 41 7 

success, I do not doubt that the Treasury can be supplied till the meeting 
of Congress. The State banks must then be induced to come into the 
national system, or required to cease from issuing notes for circulation ; 
and such taxes must be imposed as will bring the amount to be raised by 
loans within the limit of the natural demand for bonds. Such legislation 
by the last Congress would have saved many millions. By the next Con- 
gress it will be indispensable to the success of the Treasury. ..." 

27 



C'. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

ME. CHASE AND THE WAK — EXTRACTS FKOM HIS LETTEES AND 

DIAEIES. 

1861. 

To John, T. Trowhridge, Somertille, Mass. 

" WAsnufOTON, March 81, 1864. 
". . . . "TIVOIEDIATELY after the organization of the cabinet, the 
JL question of what should be the policy of the Government 
toward the seceded States, demanded the most serious attention. Ander- 
son, with his little company of soldiers, was holding Fort Sumter, and 
the first question was, " Shall he be relieved ? " General Scott declared 
that complete relief was impracticable with a less force than 20,000 men. 
He thought, however, that the fort might be defended for several months 
if reenforced and provisioned ; but that reenforcements and provisioning 
were impracticable, as the fire of the enemy's batteries would be concen- 
trated upon any vessel which might make the attempt, both while enter- 
ing the harbor, and especially when endeavoring to land men and cargoes 
at the fort. The President finally determined to make the attempt to 
send provisions to the garrison. 

" Information that the attempt would be made was transmitted to the 
Governor of South Carolina, and its receipt was promptly followed by 
an order from the rebel authorities to reduce the fort. How this was 
accomplished is historical, and it is also historical how the country was 
aroused by the rebel guns which opened on the fort. The call for 
75,000 men immediately followed. It soon became evident that noth- 
ing beyond the mere defense of Washington was to be accomplished 
by this force. 

" I took the liberty of urging upon General Scott to occupy Manassas 
and compel the rebels to evacuate Harper's Ferry and the Valley of the 
Shenandoah. It has since become evident that this might have been then 
done, and it is even probable that a vigorous use of the force then at the 
disposal of the Government might have driven the rebels from Richmond. 



GREAT IRREGULARITIES. 419 

The action proposed, however, was thought to involve too much risk. 
The rebels were suflferecl for weeks to occupy Alexandria with an insignifi- 
cant force, to incite insurrection in Baltimore, and to destroy the national 
property at Norfolk, except that which was destroyed imder orders by 
ourselves. At last, after long delays, Baltimore was recovered, Alexan- 
dria was occupied by national troops, and the rebels were driven from 
Harper's Ferry. Meanwhile, it had become evident that the 75,000 men 
originally called for would be insufficient. To replace them I took the 
liberty to prepare a call for 65,000 volunteers. This proposition, after 
having been modified so as to include an increase of the regular army, was 
sanctioned by the President, who, with the consent of the Secretary of 
War, directed me to prepare also the necessary orders. I invited to my 
assistance Colonel Thomas, Major Irwin McDowell, and Captain "W. B. 
Franklin. After a good deal of consideration the orders since known as 
Nos. 15 and 10 were framed ; one for the enlistment of volunteers and the 
other for regular regiments. Major McDowell contributed the largest 
amount of information and suggestion, whUe the other two officers were 
by no means wanting in both. It was my part to decide between diflferent 
opinions, and put the whole in form. 

" The object I had in view in all this was — as there was no law author- 
izing the raising of the force required — to prepare to make a regular 
system and plan in conformity with which all new enlistments should be 
made clear and intelligible in itself, and capable of being laid before 
Congress in a form which would be likely to receive its sanction. These 
orders were promulgated in May, 1861. 

" There were wide departures from this plan, however. Great irregu- 
larities prevailed. Regiments were raised under verbal authority frpm 
the President and Secretary of "War, and under written memoranda of 
which no record was preserved. So that the orders failed to secure the 
objects I had in view — beyond the simple provision of force — which were, 
order and system, and through ^hese efficiency and accountability. 

" During this time great efforts were made in Kentucky and in Mis- 
souri to precipitate those States into rebellion, and I was called on to 
take a very considerable part in the measures adopted to prevent their suc- 
cess. The President and Secretary of War, indeed, committed to me for a 
time the principal charge of what related to Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
I was very active also in promoting the measures deemed necessary for 
the safety of Missouri. When Rousseau, then a Union Senator in the Ken- 
tucky Legislature from Louisville, came to Washington to seek means of 
raisiag men for the defense of the Union, I took his matters in charge ; 
obtained for him a colonel's commission and an order, which I drew up 
myself, authorizing him to raise twenty companies. I was also charged 
with the care of Nelson's work; drew most of the orders under which he 
acted ; and provided the necessary means to meet expenses. So, also, I 
was called on to frame the orders under which Andrew Johnson was 
authorized to raise regiments in Tennessee. TLese duties brought me 



430 I'lJ'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

into intimate relations with those officers ; particularly with the first two. 
They were worthy of the confidence reposed in them by the President. I 
doubt if more valuable work has been done with so much activity, econ- 
omy and practical benefit in raising men, by almost any others. Nelson's 
movement into the interior of Kentucky and the establishment of the 
Camp Dick Robinson, was especially most opportune. I think that this 
movement saved Kentucky from secession. I am quite sure that, without 
the organization of Nelson and Rousseau, the State would not have been 
saved from that calamity. 

" While he was Secretary of War, General Cameron conferred much 
with me. I never undertook to do any thing in his department, except 
when asked to give my help, and then I gave it willingly. In addition to 
Western Border-State matters, the principal subjects of conference between 
General Cameron and myself were slavery and the employment of colored 
troops. We agreed very early that the necessity of arming them was in- 
evitable ; but we were alone in that opinion. At least no other member 
of the Administration gave open support, while the President and 'Mi. 
Blair, as least, were decidedly averse to it. The question of the employ- 
ment of the colored people who sought refuge within our lines soon be- 
came one of practical importance. General Butler wrote from Fortress 
Monroe in May, 1861, asking what disposition should be made of such 
persons. The Secretary of War conferred with me, and I submitted my 
suggestions to him in the form of a letter, which he adopted with some 
slight modification. General Butler wrote again in July, and being again 
consulted, I again submitted suggestions which were adopted. In the 
first of these letters, General Butler was directed to refrain from surren- 
dering alleged fugitives from service to alleged masters. In the second 
he was directed to employ them under such organizations and in such 
occupations as circumstances might suggest or require. 

" It will be observed by the reader of those letters that at the time they 
were written it was expected the rebellion would be suppressed without any 
radical interference with the domestic institutions or internal affairs of any 
State, and that the directions to General Butler contemplated only such 
measures as seemed then necessary to suppression. He was not to inter- 
fere with laborers whether slaves or free, in houses or on farms. He was 
to receive only such as came to him, and, regarding all laws for reclama- 
tion as temporarily suspended, was to employ them in the service of the 
United States, keeping such accounts as would enable loyal owners to 
seek compensation from Congress. ..." 

To Alphonso Taft, Cincinnati. 

" Washington, April 20, 1861. 
" .... To correct misapprehensions, except by acts, is an almost vain 
endeavor. You may say, however, to all whom it may concern, that 
there is no ground for the ascription to me by Major Brown of the senti- 
ment to which you allude. 



TWO ALTERNATIVES. • 421 

" True it is that before the assault on Fort Sumter, ia anticipation of 
an attempt to provision famishing soldiers of the Union, I was decidedly 
in favor of a positive policy and against the notion of drifting — the Mi- 
cawber-like policy of waiting for something to turn up. 

" As a positive policy two alternatives were plainly before us : 1. That 
of enforcing the laws of the Union by its whole power and through its 
whole extent ; or, 3. That of recognizing the organization of actual gov- 
ernment by the seven seceded States as an accomplished revolution — ac- 
complished through the complicity of the late Administration, and letting 
that Confederacy try its experiment of separation ; but maintaining the 
authority of the Union and treating secession as treason everywhere else. 

" Knowing that the former of these alternatives involved destructive 
war and vast expenditure and oppressive debt, and thinking it possible 
that through the latter these great evils might be avoided, and the union 
of the other States preserved unbroken ; the return even of the seceded 
States, after an unsatisfactory experiment of separation secured ; and the 
great cause of freedom and constitutional government peacefully vindicated 
— thinking, I say, these things possible, I preferred the latter alternative. 

" The attack on Fort Sumter and the precipitation of Virginia into 
hostility to the national Government, made this latter alternative imprac- 
ticable, and I had then no hesitation about recurring to the former. Of 
course I insist on the most vigorous measures, not merely for the preserva- 
tion of the Union and the defense of the Government, but for the consti- 
tutional reestablishment of both throughout the land. 

" In laboring for these objects I know hardly the least cessation, and be- 
gin to feel the wear as well as the strain of them. When my criticisers 
equal me in labor and zeal, I shall more cheerfully listen to their criti- 
cisms. ..." 

To Dr. William Wirt, Richmond. 

" Washington, March 10, 1861. 

" .... A friend has placed in my hands a number of the Baltimore 
Exchange of the 7th inst., containing an article from the Richmond Dis- 
patch which purports to give an account of the conversation between us, 
to which you refer in yours received last Friday. 

" The article is very far from a correct statement of what was said. A 
great deal essential to any true understanding of the conversation is 
omitted, and what is stated is so stated as to convey a totally erroneous 
idea of its spirit and substance. 

" You called on me, and I welcomed you as a friend — as a former pupil 
— as a son of William Wirt, my friend and instructor in other days — as a 
member of a family for every individual of which I have long cherished 
the warmest regard. I understood you also to be a friend of the Union, 
although earnest in maintaining what you believed to be the rights of the 
slave States. The Peace Conference was in session, and I was a member 
deeply interested in the objects of its discussions. 



423 LH^E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" Naturally, therefore, our conversation was very free ; and just as nat- 
urally it tui-ned to the existing state of the country ; not, however, as 
stated in the article, with reference to any connection I might have with 
the incoming Administration, for I did not then expect and I never wished 
to be charged with a department ; but with reference simply to matters 
before the convention and their relation to the general condition of the 
country. 

" What I chiefly desired to impress on your mind was the anxiety deep- 
ly felt by me, in common with all patriotic citizens, for a peaceful solution 
of existing ditSculties, This solution, I suggested, might be found in the 
organization of Territories without any mention of the subject of slavery, 
one way or the other, in the organic acts, and in a legislative provision for 
compensation for fugitives from service, in lieu of extradition — an arrange- 
ment likely, as I thought, to prove more beneficial to the slave States, and 
more acceptable to the free, than the existing law. If legislative solution 
in this or some similar way should be found impracticable, I suggested 
a National Convention to prepare amendments of the Constitution as the 
best means of composing present troubles, or, in the deplorable contin- 
gency of impossible adjustment, of providing for peaceful separation, 

" You, on your part, expressed great solicitude that no attempt should be 
made to reenforce Fort Sumter, and stated your conviction that any such 
attempt would impair the Union sentiment in the South, and lead many 
Union men to make common cause with the secessionists. 

" In reply to observations of this nature, I expressed my confidence that 
nothing would be willingly done to weaken the cause of the Union in the 
Southern States; but observed, further, that I did not see how the Presi- 
dent could be absolved from his oath to defend the Constitution and exe- 
cute the law, which seemed to bind him to support Major Anderson in the 
position his duty had required him to take. 

" This led to a discussion of the possibility of war from this and other 
causes, and of its possible issues. We both deprecated such a conflict and 
with equal earnestness. As arguments against it, I urged that, even in the 
event of a complete combiuation of all the slaveholding States against the 
Federal Government, a population of eleven millions, of which four mill- 
ions were slaves, could hardly hope to contend successfully against a popu- 
lation of twenty millions, with no such incumbrance ; that a civil war must 
almost inevitably lead to servile war ; that the institution of slavery could 
not stand the shock of such a conflict ; and that, even if the institution 
should survive, and a separation of the States should be thus accomplished 
through violence, still, after all, the slave States could by no possibility be 
more secure, or find better guarantees for the security of slavery, in a sepa- 
rate confederacy than in the Union. 

" How different all this from the spirit attributed to me in the article 
is apparent enough. Nor was the actual character of your part in the con- 
versation less diflferent from that attributed to you. 

" For example, you are represented as saying to me in a certain con- 



MISREPRESENTATIONS. 423 

nection, ' What is your object ? ' and I am represented as replying, ' To free 
the slave, who is the cause of the war.' No such question was put to me, 
in any connection, leading tc such a reply,' and no such reply was made by 
me to any question whatever. Again, it is represented ^^hat you asked me 
if I ' expected the slave States to return to the Union after their homes 
had been threatened and their country devastated,' and that I answered : 
' We do not want them to return. If the slave States remain in the Union, 
they will have to be satisfied with much less than they are now demand-- 
ing.' This statement, too, conveys a totally erroneous idea of what was 
said. I do not remember your language or my own ; but I remember very 
well that what I said about terms of remaining in the Union had reference 
to the demand made in the Peace Conference of a new constitutional sanc- 
tion and guarantee of slavery in national Territories, of which I remarked 
that the slave States would have to be satisfied with less than that. Again, 
what was said about peonage, compensated labor, and Colonization, had 
no reference, such as the article makes it have, to liberation through civil 
or servile war ; but to emancipation, possible at some future time, through 
gradual improvement of the slave population and the voluntary action of 
the slave States — just such emancipation as Jefl'ersonj'your own honored 
father, and other illustrious statesmen, formerly anticipated, and some 
Southern patriots and philanthropists, I believe, yet anticipate. 

" This is enough. If you derived any such impressions of me or my 
views as this article indicates from our conversation, I sincerely regret it. 
It was a frank, unstudied, unguarded talk between old friends of diflering 
opinions. Misconception was, of course, possible. Certainly what I said 
was greatly misconceived, if you think it warranted any such statement as 
that which has, unfortunately, injuriously, and, I am sure, without your 
agency, found its way into the public prints. 

" I wish no ill to the slave States ; but rather all good. For Virginia 
and Maryland the circumstances of my earlier manhood inspired in me the 
interest of a sincere attachment. More than any State, however, I love 
the Union our fathers made. In the Union, so far as I am concerned, the 
rights of every State and of every citizen shall be scrupulously respected. 
Through no conscious agency of mine shall harm come to the republic. 
Let the remembrance of your father's example prompt you, my dear sir, 
to a generous interpretation of the motives of those who think otherwise 
than yourself, and inspire in you a sincere desire to allay rather than stim- 
ulate passion, and to reconcile rather than exasperate the difi"erences which 
have disturbed the tranquillity of the country and endangered the perma- 
nence of the Union. ..." 

To the President. 

" WashtsgtOn, March 16, 1861. 

" . . . . The following question was submitted for my consideration by 
your note of yesterday : 

" ' Assuming it to be possible to now provision Fort Sumter, is it, under 
all the circumstances, wise to attempt it ? ' 



434 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" I have given to tliis question all the reflection which the engrossing 
duties of this Department have allowed. 

"A correct solution must depend, in my judgment, on the degree of 
possibility likely to attend upon the attempt ; on the combination of re- 
enforcement with provisioning, and on the probable eflfects of the measure 
on the relations of the disaffected States toward the national Government. 

" I shall assume what the statements of the officers consulted seem to 
warrant ; that the possibility of success amounts to a reasonable degree of 
probability ; and that the attempt to provision is to include an attempt to 
reenforce : for it seems to be generally agreed that to provision without 
reinforcement will accomplish no substantially beneficial purpose. 

" The j)robable political effects of the measure allow room for much 
fair difference of oj)inion, and I have not reached my own conclusion with- 
out much difficulty. If the proposed enterprise will so influence civil war 
as to involve an immediate necessity for the enlistment of armies and the 
expenditure of millions, I cannot, in the existing circumstances of the 
country and in the present condition of the national finances, advise it. 
But it seems to me highly improbable that the attempt, if accompanied or 
immediately followed by a proclamation, setting forth a liberal and gen- 
erous though firm policy toward the disaffected States, in accordance 
with the principles of the inaugural address, will produce such conse- 
quences ; whUe it cannot be doubted that, in maintaining a fort belonging 
to the United States, and in supporting the ofiicers and men engaged, in 
the regular course of service, in its defense, the Federal Government ex- 
ercises a clear right, and under all ordinary circumstances discharges a 
plain duty. I therefore return an aflBrmative answer to the question sub- 
mitted to me. ..." 

To the President. 

" Washington, April 25, 1861. 

" . . . . Let me beg you to remember that the disunionists have an- 
ticipated us in every thing, and that as yet we have accomplished nothing 
but the destruction of our own property. 

" Let me beg you to remember, also, that it has been a darling object 
with the disunionists to secure the passage of a secession ordinance by 
Maryland. 

" The passage of that ordinance will be the signal for the entry of dis- 
union forces into Maryland. It will give a color of law and regularity to 
rebellion, and thereby triple its strength. The custom-house in Balti- 
more will be seized, and Fort McHenry attacked — perhaps taken.' What 
next? 

" Do not, I pray you, let this new success of treason be inaugurated in 
the presence of American troops. Save us from this new humiliation. 

" A word to the brave old commanding general will do the work of 
prevention. You, alone, can give the word. ..." 



KENTUCKY AND WEST VIRGINIA. 425 

To George D. Prentice, Louisville, KentucTcy. 

" Washington, May 23, 1861. 

" .... It seems indispensable that supplies to the rebels from Louis- 
ville shall cease. The unavoidable alternative is suspension of intercourse 
with Louisville from other loyal States. I have been, and am, exceedingly 
anxious so to administer this Department as to aid, and not hinder, the 
success of the Union men in Kentucky. With this view, and in compli- 
ance with suggestions from prominent Union men, I have delayed requir- 
ing the enforcement of the order prohibiting supplies to insurgents. It 
now seems certain that longer delay will work more mischief than good. 
The military authorities have prohibited these supplies, and the civil must 
necessarily act in the same direction. I hear that Colonel Anderson has 
been ordered to Louisville, and that he has been instructed to support the 
collector in preventing the sending forward of these supplies. It is ex- 
ceedingly important, as it seems to me, that the cessation of these supplies 
shall appear to be the voluntary act of the people of Louisville, in refusing 
further aid, direct or indirect, to the insurgents, rather than a reluctant 
obedience to Federal authority. ..." 

To John 8. Carlisle, Wheeling, Virginia. 

" Washinqton, June 10, 1861. 

" . . . . Your dispatch is just received, and was answered as clearly as 
the brevity of the telegraph allows. Tours was charged at thirty dollars. 

" You seem to think that some order heretofore given is reversed, or 
may be. This is a mistake. The purpose of the Administration to give 
full support to the Union men in the border States, as well as in the States 
farther South, is entirely unchanged. It is desirable, of course, to enlist 
as many men as you can for three years, and without limit as to space of 
service ; but it is certainly wise to enlist other regiments, if an adeqaate 
number of three-years' men cannot be had. Men enlisted for local service, 
however, should be organized rather as home-guards than as regular 
troops, and should not expect the same equipment or pay as three-years' 
men. At all events, they should be taken only for a limited period, say 
three months. 

• " If you can raise five thousand men, as you anticipate, they will all be 
accepted ; and until Congress shall make some general provision by law, 
they will be sustained just as the troops in joint lines have been, whether 
they are organized for local service only, or for general service without 
restriction. 

" Full confidence is reposed in your discretion, and that of those who 
act with you. You are on the spot, and must know what is best to be 
done. Do it. 

" Will not your Legislature make some provision for arming the State, 
in concert with the General Government ? . . . " 



426 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

To Eon. James Guthrie, Louisville, Kentucky. 

" Washington, Jun6 13, 1861. 

" . . . . Tour note of the 10th, by Hon. Thomas M. Key, was duly re- 
ceived. I had already gathered, from other sources, most of the facts and 
views which he communicated. No doubt has existed in my miad of the 
inexpediency of sending Federal troops into Kentucky, except upon the 
call of the Union men of that State. I may say to you, that it was at my 
instance that General Scott telegraphed to General McClellan not to 
send into Kentucky any soldiers not native residents of the State. 

" It is my wish that the whole action of the national Administration 
may be directed in aid of the Union men of Kentucky. Of the mode in 
which that aid can be rendered, they must, in general, be .the best judges, 
and, of course, great deference should be paid to their well-considered 
wishes. 

" Permit me to express my regret that the Treasury order of the 2d of 
May, designed to prevent the sending of supplies to persons in actual re- 
bellion against the Union, and to States under their control, remained for 
a long time unexecuted at Louisville, and is, as I am advised, only par- 
tially executed now. While the Administration desires to cooperate, 
frankly and cordially, with the Union men of Kentucky, it certainly has a 
right to expect frank and cordial cooperation from them. 

" Nothing can be plainer, I apprehend, than the right and duty of the 
Administration to prevent the sending of supplies of every description 
whatever, to insurgents, and to States under the control of insurgents. 
Such States are worse then belligerent — they are disloyally belligerent. 
And while it is doubtless desirable to afford to loyal men in those States 
all possible support, the Ijest possible support seems to be that complete 
non-intercourse which a state of hostility warrants and demands, and 
which is likeliest to bring the disloyal to reason. ..." 

To tlie Secretary of War. 

" WAsniNGTON, Jime 19, 1S61. 

" .... In the Intelligencer of this morning I see a statement that the 
East Pennsylvania Railroad Company has made an offer, wldcTi has ieen ac- 
cepted, to receive Government bonds in payment for transportation. That 
guch an offer has been made is probable enough, but that it has been ac- 
cepted, without consulting the Secretary of the Treasury, can hardly be 
correct. There is no warrant of law for such contracts. If made, they 
must cause a rapid depreciation of Government securities and greatly in- 
crease our financial embarrassment. 

" It is desh-able, doubtless, for the next sixty days, to use a considerable 
amount of Treasury notes, in payment of large contracts. But this must 
be done cautiously and without publicity, and only in the largest contracts. 
It is a dangerous experiment for a government to pay in any thing but 
money." 



FRIENDSHIP FOR GENERAL McCLELLAN. 427 

To General George B. Mc Clellan. 

"Washington, July 7, ISCl. 

" . . . . Thougli I believe we have never met, I someliow feel as if we 
were personal friends. Your being called to the command of the Ohio 
troops inspired the first strong interest I felt in you. I could not help feel- 
ing deeply interested in one so connected with men and a State to which I 
was bound by so many close and tender ties. Then the accounts I heard 
of your character and qualities, from those who knew you, and the reports 
of your policy and action that came from Ohio, and especially the close 
study which, under the circumstances, I naturally gave to your dispatches 
to the noble old commanding general, from whom I sometimes differ but 
whom I always revere, confirmed that interest and mingled with it respect 
and confidence. In the result the country was indebted to me — may I say 
it without too much vanity? — in some considerable degree, for the change 
of your commission from Ohio into a commission of major-general of the 
army of the Union, and your assignment to the command of the Depart- 
ment of the Ohio. I drew with my own hand the order extending it into 
Virginia. 

" These things may not be unknown to you. I refer to them now, in 
order that, if they happen to be unknown, you may the better understand 
the motives which dictate this letter. 

" Major-General Fremont has been assigned to the command of the De- 
partment embracing Illinois and the States between the Mississippi and 
the Rocky Mountains. It was my wish that you should remain in com- 
mand on the Mississippi, but in this I was overruled. I regret it the less, 
because, while I regard both deiiartments as great fields of usefulness and 
honor, I look upon that which must embrace all the operations in Ken- 
tucky and Eastern Tennessee, and so downward to the Gulf, as greatly the 
most important. A separate department was some time ago created of the 
whole or a part of Kentucky, and the command given to General — then 
Colonel — Anderson. I wish this department and Tennessee now to be 
included in yours, and think both will be. 

" Your letter has inspired in me the greatest hope that by this time you 
have achieved important advantages over the rebels, and that you will 
soon clear Western Virginia of them. You will then be left free for the 
operations which I regard as the most important. To prepare for them, 
an order has been made after consultation with Senator Johnson, Lieuten- 
ant Nelson, Mr. Green Adams, and others, authorizing Lieutenant Nelson to 
raise six regiments in Tennessee, and three in Kentucky, in addition to the 
two which Colonel Rousseau had been previously authorized to raise at 
and near Louisville. Lieutenant Nelson is known to you. He is a man of 
energy and of various talent. I believe he will execute his commission 
well. Mr. Adams, who formerly represented the district comprising many 
of the counties of Southeast Kentucky, is now at the head of a bureau in 
my department. He has gone West to-day to prepare for rapid enlist- 



428 I^I^ OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ment. Lieutenant Nelson will follow as soon as arras and guns can be sent 
forward ; and will, I hope, be able to see you iu person, bearing this letter. 

" You can very materially forward these preparations by your counsel 
and cooperation : and just as soon as circumstances will allow, you can 
yourself take the open command of the regiments, and, with your Ohio 
and Indiana men, march down through the mountain-region, deliver the 
whole of it, including the mountain districts of North Carolina, Georgia, 
and Alabama, from the insurrection, and then reach the Gulf at Mobile 
and New Orleans, thus cutting the rebellion in two. 

" This, in my view, is, among the important lines of movement, the 
most important, and offers the best theatre for political and military genius. 
I think Fremont could have acted well the part it rec^'iires, had your dej^art- 
ment continued to extend across the IVIississippi. I am sure you can act it 
well, and I beg you to give it your most careful thought. 

" Perhaps you will laugh at all this, and ask, ' What does the Secretary 
of the Treasury so far from the money-bags?' Perhaps you will laugh 
with reason, and what I have written may very possibly deserve to be 
classed with the crudities with which all brains are rife. But to offer my 
ideas to your consideration can do no harm ; and I shall receive with per- 
fect docility the corrections of your better judgment. ..." 

To Green Adams, of Kentucky. 

" Washington, September 5, 1861. 
" . . . . While the rebels do not hesitate to confiscate any Union man's 
property of whatever description, certainly no great complaint can be made 
if slaves are not recognized as the property of rebels, when employed in hos- 
tility to the Union and in promoting that very confiscation. I am sure the 
President does not go beyond, nor intended to go beyond, the action of Con- 
gress. Indeed, I know that the President had some difficulty in consenting 
to approve the act of Congress on the subject, fearing that it might be con- 
strued into favor to some such jjurpose as that supposed to be countenanced 
by Fremont's proclamation ; and I am sure that neither the President nor 
any member of his Administration has any desire to convert this war for the 
Union and for national existence, in the Union and under the Constitution, 
into a war upon any State institution. It is their wish to leave slavery to the 
disposition of the States in which it exists in good faith. We all see, how- 
ever, that the madness of disunion and treason against the Government en- 
dangers the system of slavery. It is impossible that a civil war should go on 
between the slaveholders, as a class, controlling the action of certain States, 
and the Union, without harm to slavery, whatever may be the result of the 
war. I might very well go further, and express the opinion, without much 
risk of its confutation by events, that should this war be prolonged, as it 
will be if secession should get the upper hand in Kentucky, a fatal result 
to slavery will be wellnigh inevitable. But the Government is seeking 
no such result. That result, if it comes at all, will come through the folly 



/ 



THE WAR IN KENTUCKY. 429 

of insurrectionary disunion. . . . Meantime the practical action of tlie 
Government will be that indicated by Cameron's letter to Butler. Fugi- 
tives from States in insurrection will be received into the Federal service 
under such organizations and in such employments as may be found expe- 
dient ; and, at the end of the war, wUl be properly provided for in some 
way reconcHtng the freedom of these persons with the general good, while 
loyal masters will be compensated, and rebel masters wUl be allowed to 
reap the just fruit of rebellion. ..." 

To Brigadier- General W. T. Sherman^ Cincinnati. 

" Washtngton, September 17, 1S61. 

" . . . . Tour telegram was received and has been laid before the 
President. He supposes that fully 5,000 men, armed, are in camp at Cin- 
cinnati ; that 2,000 (Rousseau's) are at Louisville ; and a report from Gen- 
eral Fremont advises him that 12,000 are at Paducah. This exceeds your 
demand. 

" I have just heard, to my surprise, that five regiments from Fremont's 
command have been ordered here. You know that, before you left, an 
attack was apprehended, and the expectation has gained strength since. 
General McClellan desires to be strong enough not merely to repel but to 
advance. Still, I regret the order for Fremont's men. It will, I fear, have 
a bad effect. 

" Commissions for Nelson as brigadier, and for Bramlette, Fry, Ger- 
rard, and Wolford, colonels, have been sent to General Anderson, to be for- 
warded to Camp Dick Robinson. I hope they will come safely and go 
forward promptly. It is high time that Nelson's force was fully organized. 

" Four thousand stand of arms have been ordered forward, which, I 
presume, will be in Cincinnati before this reaches you. I shall exert my- 
self to have more sent. Whatever I can do I will willingly do to sustain 
you all. The loyalty of Kentucky is a great point gained. — Please send for 
the collector at Louisville and the Treasury Special Agent, Mr. Mellen, or 
Mr. Gallagher, special agent on the Mississippi, if now in Louisville, and 
confer with them about shii^ments to the South. ..." 

To Brigadier- General William Nelson, Louisville. 

" Washington, September 18, 1861. 

" . . . . Yours of the 12th is just received. I congratulate you most 
heartily on the good results of your energy and wisdom, which have given 
room for patriotism to work upon ; and I rejoice in thinking that my coun- 
sels and labors have done somewhat to place and keep you in position — 
you and Rousseau — while I have also, to the best of my ability, promoted 
every measure for the good of Kentucky. 

" I will go to the War Department at once on the subject of your wants, 
and do all I can to urge the department to action. As to money, it shall 
be forthcoming as soon as the proper papers can be signed. 



430 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" You "will find in Sherman a man of energy, of wisdom, and of cour- 
age — a fit helpmeet for you. I hare asked him to counsel and co6i)erate 
with you ; you too must cooperate to support Anderson, who is also true 
and brave, but in such health that he needs the cooperation and friend- 
ship of such men as Sherman and yourself. 

" May God protect and prosper you ! . , . " 

To William Qray^ Esq.^ of Boston. 

"WASHiNGTONt September 18, 1S61. 
" . . . . Tour note, just received, somewhat ''addens me, though I sel- 
dom allow myself to take sombre views. I wish exceedingly that every 
department of Government could have the entire confidence of the people, 
but I fear that, should the desired change be made, the Horatian line 
would apply to the new incumbent : 

" Mutato nomine, 
De te fabula narratur." 

" "Who is sufficient for the great work of the "War Department ? I see 
and deplore its defective organization, but when I look round and ask my- 
self, ' Who wUl bring to this great work the needed ability, or indeed more 
ability and fidelity, than its present head ? ' I confess myself perplexed. 
General Cameron, as I know, wishes to resign and go abroad. But who 
is the man for his place ? (Please regard these last two sentences as confi- 
dential). ..." 

To La/rz Anderson^ Cincinnati. 

"Washington, October 2, 1861. 

"All I can do to aid your noble-hearted brother shall be done. I 
would it were in my power to do more ; my sympathies are all with him. 
But you can form no idea of the embarrassments which surround me. My 
labors are incessant, and my perplexities nearly overwhelm me. 

" The expenditures everywhere are frightful. In every State men are 
raised, armed and equipped, provisioned, and transported, almost without 
reference to the General Government. This involves separate staflf-adju- 
tants, quartermasters, and commissaries, of State appointment, every- 
where. In general these State officers seem to me to do their duty quite 
as well as could be expected ; but the connection between them and the 
Federal officers here is not sufficiently well established to enable the Ad- 
ministration to know what is to be provided, or where, or what the ag- 
gregate of expenditures during any given time is, or is likely to be. 

" Then every army and detachment is continually spending money — 
some rashly and profusely ; others prudently and economically. 

"We do not know what troops have been brought into service, or 
what have been raised, or are likely to be raised, in the difierent States, 

" The average daily drafts on the Treasury for two weeks past have 



THE COST OF WAR. 431 

been a million and three-quarters ($1,750,000) at least. All the first loan 
was exhausted some time since, and a large part of the second has been 
already anticipated. It will but last through October. The banks do 
not expect to be called on at the rate of more than a million a day ; nor 
do I think they could stand a much larger drain, with all the help which 
the national subscription gives. 

" You will easily see, from this statement, that the drafts on the Treas- 
ury are largely in excess of its means ; which mortifies and distresses me 
beyond measure. 

" It looks as if I had large means, when the success of the loans is con- 
sidered by itself; but when it is remembered that this success supplies 
only a million a day — a prodigious sum, it is true — while the drafts are 
three-fourths of a million greater, it will be seen at once how dispropor- 
tionate are means to demands. 

" Pardon this detail — but I cannot endure that you or your honored 
brother should feel that any delay ia this Department occurs, except from 
inexorable necessity, where Kentucky is concerned. ..." 

To George Carlisle^ Esq., Cincinnati. 

" Washington, October 9, 1861. 

" .... It is as difficult to meet the demands for troops as demands 
for money. AU that is possible, is to allow each general to judge of the 
necessities of his particular position, and endeavor to supply his wants as 
far as practicable. The call for a considerable body from Fremont's de- 
partment was doubtless a mistake ; but the call was countermanded 
almost when made, and no harm resulted. Not a single regiment, I be- 
lieve, has come East as a consequence of it. I do not know that one has 
even left Missouri. 

" I agree with you as to the necessity of visror and decision. Timidity 
and hesitation, whether in capitalists, or m officers civU or military, oc- 
casion only danger. " 



• • 



To General Nelson. 

" Washington, October 19, 18C1. 

" .... I was greatly annoyed to learn that, after all my efforts, you 
got none of the arms which were sent to Kentucky. I telegraphed you ; 
I wrote you, and I had Speed's promise. He explains by saying that the 
arms went to Louisville, and that General Sherman had such urgent need 
of them that he would not let them go to you. — All I can now do for you 
will be done. You have still a large sum to your credit in Cincinnati — 
can you not make some arrangement with the State of Ohio to take at 
cost a portion of the arms lately received by her from Europe ? 

" As to popularity growing or diminishing, I care little. I want to 
help everybody who is trying to do something, of which number I count 
you more than one. What we need above all things in Kentucky are the 



432 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

qualities you have displayed — courage, promptitude, organizing faculty, 
and economy of means. ..." 

To Jay CooTce^ Philadelphia. 

" WAsmNGTON, October 19, 1861. 

" . . . . Mr. Seward'3 letter is misunderstood. It is indeed too enig- 
matical in phrase, and there was no necessity for it ; but so far from hav- 
ing a discouraging effect, it should have the reverse. It evinces a dis- 
position, simply, to he prepared for all contingencies, and that we shall 
always have our great cities safe. We are at peace now with Europe, and 
I hope and believe we shall remain so ; but events have taught us that we 
are not always safe from war when there is no cause for it ; not always, 
indeed, when every interest is against it. 

" There is no such intrigue concerning McClellan as that you speak of. 
Somebody's fears or jealousies have misled him.* 

To Joseph Cable, Esq., Wyandot, Ohio. 

"Washington, October 28, 1861. 

" . . . . Every exertion has been made to supply our troops in West- 
em Virginia, and I understand that sufficient clothing, blankets, and other 
equipments, were forwarded long since. . . , 

" You may rest assured that there is no sentiment of hostility in the 
Administration against General Fremont. If he is recalled from com- 
mand in the Western Department, it will be because the President believes 
that the army in Missouri and the interests of the cause in Missouri will 
be safer in other hands than in his. If the President has changed that 
high opinion of General Fremont which led to his appointment to one of 
the most responsible positions in the service, it is because the evidence 
presented satisfies him beyond a reasonable doubt that General Fremont 
has not proved equal to the charge. Tou may depend upon it, that in 
whatever he does in the matter, the President wOl be governed by a pure 
sense of public duty ; and he will feel it better to perform that duty and 
be condemned for it by those who do not see the facts as he does, than 
neglect it and risk serious ill consequences to the country. 

" I did not favor General Fremont's appointment, because I feared the 
financial mismanagement which has actually occurred. I have however 
supported him to the extent of the power of the Treasury, having for- 
warded for payments in his department not less than $10,000,000. ... I 
shall feel it my duty, of course, to support the President, who will not be 
influenced in his judgment in the smallest degree by Fremont's proclama- 
tion. ..." 

' In the first paragraph of this letter, Mr. Chase refers to Mr. Seward's Circular 
of October 14th to the Governors of States advising sea-coast and lake defenses, and 
to an intrigue mentioned by Mr. Cooke, the motive of which was the removal of 
General McCIeUan. 



THE TRENT AFFAIR. 433 

To General George B. McClellan. 

. " Washington, December 11, 1861. 

" . . . . Tour time is too precious to be occupied unnecessarily, and 
mine is too necessary to me to be wasted. I have therefore omitted calling 
on you, not knowing when you could give me a few minutes, and not de- 
siring to waste any in fruitless endeavors to see you. 

" If you can name any hour at which you can see me better than at 
another, I shall be glad to confer with you occasionally. 

" The army and the Treasury must stand or fall together. ..." 

[At the Cabinet meeting of December 26, 1861, the matter for consid- 
eration being the delivery up to the British Government of Mason and 
Slidell, the rebel emissaries captured from the Trent streamer, Mr. Chase 
said that in his judgment " the technical right was clearly on the side of 
the British Government. As rebels or traitors to our Government, the pre- 
tended commissioners would have been safe on a neutral ship ; it was in 
their character as envoys that they were subject to arrest as contraband. 
But they could not rightfully be taken from the ship till after the judicial 
condemnation of the ship itself, for receiving and carrying them. How- 
ever excused or even justified by motives, the act of removing them as 
prisoners from the ship, without resort to any judicial cognizance, was in 
itself indefensible. We could not deny this without denying our history. 
Were the circumstances reversed, our Government would no doubt accept 
explanation, and allow England to keep her rebels ; and he could not 
divest himself of the belief that, were the case fairly understood, the 
British Government would do the same thing." Though " it was gall and 
wormwood " to him to consent to the liberation of these two men^ and he 
would rather sacrifice every thing he possessed, he was consoled by the 
reflection that the surrender, under existing circumstances, was simply 
proving faithful to our own ideas and traditions under strong temptation 
to violate them ; and giving to England and the world signal proof that 
the American people will not, under any circumstances, for the sake of 
inflicting just punishment on rebels, commit even a technical wrong 
against neutrals. He gave in his adhesion, therefore, to the conclusion of 
the Secretary of State.] 

28 



CHAPTEK XLII. 

ME. CHASE AND THE WAE. 

1862. 
To Henry Wilson, United States Senate. 

" Washington, March 10, 1862. 
" , . . . TT is said that the nomiQation of Blencker will not be confirmed 
JL by the Senate. If this be so, I am sure the President is dis- 
posed to nominate Carl Schurz in his place. The nomination of Schurz 
would be a decided benefit, in my judgment, to the army and the Admin- 
istration. 

" I know nothing of Blencker's case, and do not desire to be under- 
stood as expressing any wish in reference to it, except for immediate ac- 
tion. If he is worthy he ought to be confirmed without reference to 
Schurz ; if not worthy, he should be rejected without reference to the 
question of a successor. But why not act in the matter, and act at 
once ? . . . " 

To Colonel Thomas IT. Key. 

" Wasihngton, April 18, 1862. 

"I am perhaps to blame for not replying immediately to your tele- 
gram in cipher; but having no cipher, and thinking it unadvisable to 
reply otherwise than by telegraph, neglected doing so in any way. 

"The object of your telegram has been, much discussed here in my 
absence, and the President determined, of his own thought, to detain 
McDowell's corps. Neither General McDowell nor any of his friends was 
consulted or advised untU after the President's resolution had been taken. 
My own judgment, however, fully confirmed the act, though in such mat- 
ters I do not like to rely much upon it. I did not think the corps neces- 
sary for the defense of "Washington, but I did think that acting in con- 
junction with that under Banks, or at least in cooperation, it would give 
a much more efiicient support to McClellan than if sent into the Penin- 
sula, "We are looking earnestly, and I somewhat anxiously, for news from 



McCLELLAN AND McDOWELL. 435 

McDowell, now supposed to be at Fredericksburg, and from Banks and 
Shields, now probably approaching Stauntoru 

" I congratulate you on the passage of the Emancipation Bill, and on 
its approval by the President. It went through almost unchanged from 
your draft — wholly unchanged in spirit. You never performed a more 
honorable work, and I wish it could bear your name.' ..." 

To Captain Daniel Ammen, in the Army in Florida. 

" WASHiNGToiir, April 21, 1862. 

" . . . . Thanks for your letter. Before it came we had news of the 
evacuation of Jacksonville. It was presumably expedient ; but it is against 
the grain. 

*' All seems to be moving well. Our generals in the West have acquu'ed 
brilliant honors. In the East the commanding general has been too slow 
and irresolute to please me ; but I feel confident he will not fail. 

"McDowell's corps made a brilliant movement on Friday, and Satur- 
day morning, seizing Fredericksburg after a forced march of twenty-nine 
miles on Friday, and thus obtaining the command of the whole line of the 
Rappahannock. ..." 

To General McDotcell. 

" Washington, Mot/ 14, 1862. 

" .... I have time for but a word. Stanton told me he should re- 
lease you from the prohibition against advance yesterday. I hope he has 
done so. I have never exactly seen the cogency of the reason for with- 
holding you, when you had the communication by Belle Plain as well as 
that by Acquia. But I am not military. 

" It has been one of my prime objects of desire that you should ad- 
vance toward and to Richmond. 

" McClellan, surrounded by a staff of letter-writers, gets possession of 
public opinion, and even those who know better, succumb. Then he lags. 

" If the President, Stanton, and myself, had not gone to Fortress Mon- 
roe, all would have lagged there too. 

" You want to move, as I understand, but it is not judged wise. "Well. 

" What I saw and heard at Fortress Mom-oe, on the march to Norfolk, 
and at Norfolk, taught me not a little. 

" I feel sure you can get to Richmond, if you are allowed to move and 
do actually move. There are disadvantages, I know, but they are not 
insuperable. 

" With 5,000 men and you for a general, I would undertake to go to 

^ Judge Thomas M. Key was at the time this letter was written a member of the 
military staff of General McClellan, and was the author of the bill for the emancipa- 
tion of the slaves in the District of Columbia, which is the "Emancipation Bill " re- 
ferred to by Mr. Chase in' the text. Colonel Key consulted more or less constantly 
with Mr. Chase, however, in its preparation. 



436 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Richmond from Fortress Monroe by the James River, with my revenue 
steamers Miami and the Stevens, and the Monitor, in two days. 
"Excuse this disjointed letter. ..." 

To Murat Halstead, Cincinnati. 

" Washington, May 24, 1862. 

" It seems certain that our forces are too much scattered. It is useless 
to hold the coast unless we can break the centre at Richmond. 

" My conviction is clear, however, that McClellan has a force which, 
properly handled, is vastly superior to any that can be brought against 
him. And I strongly incline to the opinion that with more under his 
command, he would be practically no stronger. What is needed for him 
is strong and effective cooperation. ..." 

From Mr. Chase's Diary, June 26, 1862. 

" On Sunday morning, May 11th " (this was immediately after the 
taking of Norfolk), " the President, becoming uneasy because of his long 
absence from Washington, determined to return forthwith. The de- 
struction of the Merrimac detained him, however, long enough to go 
to the spot and ascertain the exact condition of things and return to 
Fortress Monroe, whence we proceeded immediately toward Washing- 
ton. On the way up, I remarked the probability that a small force — say 
5,000 men — embarked on transports and convoyed by gunboats, might 
contribute largely to the taking of Richmond if sent immediately up the 
James River, But nothing was determined upon. After our return I fre- 
quently spoke of the matter, and urged the sending of General Wool up 
the river with all his available force. It was thought, however, that Gen- 
eral McClellan could be reenforced more effectually in another direction. 
General McDowell was ordered to concentrate his whole corps, including 
Shields's division at Fredericksburg, with a view to an advance upon Rich- 
mopd from that point. Shields's division, which had been in the Valley 
of the Shenandoah, was marched across the country and joined McDowell. 

"Friday, May 23d, the President and Secretary of War visited the 
army at Fredericksburg, and returned to Washington on Saturday morn- 
ing, highly gratified by the condition of the troops, and anticipating an 
imposing and successful advance on the Monday following. On the after- 
noon of the same Saturday I was sent for, to go to the War Department, 
and found that intelligence had been received of the taking of Front 
Royal and the annihilation of Kenly's regiment on the preceding day. 
The enemy was reported to have pushed forward and cut off the retreat 
of Banks, who was supposed to be at Strasburg. An order was immedi- 
ately dispatched to General Fremont to advance on Harrisonburg, and do 
all in his power for the relief of Banks. An order was also sent to General 
McDowell to detach 20,000 men, or one-half his force, and to send them 



THE WAR IN VIRGINIA. 437 

partly by land to Catlett's Station and partly by water to Alexandria and 
"Washington. To expedite these movements, I was requested to proceed 
immediately to Fredericksburg, and confer personally with General Mc- 
Dowell. I left accordingly on the same afternoon, and reached Freder- 
icksburg about one o'clock on Sunday. I found that General McDowell 
had given all the necessary orders for the movements directed by the Presi- 
dent. The march began early the next morning, and successive divisions 
and regiments followed until, during the course of the day, the whole 
20,000 men were on the. march. I returned to Washington Sunday night, 
accompanied by General Shields, and found the President, the Secretary ot 
War, the Secretary of State, and several Senators and Representatives, at 
the War Department. By this time intelligence had been received that 
Banks had retreated early on Saturday morning from Strasburg, reach- 
ing Winchester the same night, and that his retreat had been continued 
through Sunday, and that a portion of his troops had already arrived at 
Williamsport. General Saxton had been ordered to Harper's Ferry, and 
reenforceraents had been and were still rapidly being pushed forward to 
that point. 

" On Monday Shields's division arrived at Catlett's Station, and Geary's 
division, which had been stationed along the line of the Manassas Gap 
Raib'oad, had fallen back to Manassas. Ord's division followed, partly by 
water and partly by land, and, with Shields's, was concentrated within a 
day or two at Manassas. McDowell came from Fredericksburg, at the in- 
stance of the President, and took command in j^erson, having ordered 
King's division to advance toward Martinsburg as a supporting column. 
Shields pushed forward to Front Royal, which place he reached on Friday. 
McDowell followed, also reaching Front Royal on Saturday. The object 
of this movement was to cut off the retreat of Jackson through Front 
Royal. 

" Meantime Fremont, observing the spirit though not the letter of his 
orders, had marched to Moorfield, and thence to Wardensville, and cut off 
the retreat of Jackson by that road. Unfortunately,- Fremont did not 
reach Strasburg until Jackson, defeated by Saxton on Friday in his attack 
upon Harper's Ferry, and being apprised, no doubt, of the movements in 
his rear, had passed through Strasburg, on his reti'eat down the Valley. 

" While this combined movement, intended to capture Jackson and his 
force, was in progress. General McClellan was constantly asking for reen- 
forcements at Richmond. I had little confidence in his ability to handle a 
great army, but as the President was unwilling to give the command to 
any other general, I thought it of great importance that he should be re- 
enforced as far as possible. To this end, in the course of the week, I urged 
on several occasions that one-half of McCall's division be sent down to 
form a junction with McClellan's army, and that General Wool, with 
10,000 of his force, be sent up from Fortress Monroe and Norfolk, by 
James River, to effect, if possible, the capture of Fort Darling, or at least 
to cooperate with McClellan, whose lines, I supposed, could be extended 



438 LII'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

fi'om Bottom's Bridge to the James River. These reenforcements were not 
sent, partly, as I suppose, because the President was unwilling to weaken 
the advance at Fredericksburg, and- partly because he was unwilling to 
order General Wool, who was at variance with McClellan, to a coopera- 
tion, which might lead to collision between the generals, and so to un- 
pleasant results. 

" I also urged that, as McDowell's force had been drawn into and near 
the Shenandoah Valley, his three divisions — Shields's, Ord's, and King's — 
should be massed and ordered forward to Charlottesville and Lynchburg. 
This movement had been proposed by General Shields, as a movement to 
be executed from Fredericksburg. General McDowell also had proposed 
the same. As much reluctance was manifested against undertaking the 
movement as had been in respect to the reenforcement of McClellan. 

" On Friday, June 14th, the President determined to send 20,000 men 
to McClellan. To effect tlais object, he directed the embarkation of the 
whole of McCall's division at Fredericksburg, and annexed the Depart- 
ment of Vii'ginia, which had been under General Wool, to the command 
of McClellan. Wool was transferred to Baltimore, and Dix to Fortress 
Monroe, to avoid the apprehended difficulties from placing the depart- 
ment, while under the command of General Wool, also under the com- 
mand of McClellan. Most of the drilled troops of Fortress Monroe, of 
whom there were about 14,000, were sent to McClellan, and their places 
supplied mainly with new levies. Thus, long after I had proposed the re- 
enforcement, the arrangement was made by which they were sent. 

" On the same day, upon the President expressing his gratification that 
the reenforcements had been sent to McClellan, I replied to him that his 
satisfaction would be much increased if he would order McDowell, with 
his three divisions, strengthened, if necessary, by portions of Banks's and 
Fremont'scommands, on the southward expedition to CharlottesvUle and 
Lynchburg. I endeavored to impress upon him the idea that this move- 
ment would be of great importance to McClellan by creating a diversion 
in his favor by cutting off the supplies which reached Richmond through 
Lynchburg from East Tennessee. I was not successful in impressing 
the President with tlie correctness of my views. I suppose that his diffi- 
culty arose, partly from a desire to have McDowell in a position from 
which he could directly reenforce McClellan, and partly from apprehen- 
sion of disagreement between the major-generals commanding the separate 
bodies which it might be necessary to combine in the Charlottesville ex- 
pedition. This, of course, is mere conjecture. What is certain is, that 
the expedition was not organized or attempted. 

" Subsequently (June 24th), the President, having become convinced of 
the necessity of combining these three bodies under one command, created 
the Army of Vu'ginia (to consist of these three bodies), and placed it under 
the command of General Pope, who was junior in rank, though of the 
same grade as major-general, with Fremont, Banks, and McDowell, who were 
made subject to his orders. I understand that the object of this consoli- 



CABINET DISCUSSIONS. 439 

dation was, to make tlie movement upon Charlottesville, wliicli I had been 
so anxious to see attempted." 

To Edwin D. Mansfield^ Morrow, Ohio. 

" WASHiNGTOif, May 81, 1862. 

" .... I agree with you touching the importance of a reserve army. 
It has been an error, I think, to push forward our whole army when two- 
thirds of it, skillfully handled, would have eflfected the objects gained by 
the whole. . But the great defect in the operations of the war has been a 
lack of vigor and celerity in movement. To make up for this, we accu- 
mulate immense forces at particular points, and wait until the enemy 
retreats, and then occupy his deserted quarters I The need of an army of 
reserve has lately been felt by the Administration, but instead of organizing 
it from troops already in the service — ^which might easily be done, and in 
my judgment should be done — it is proposed to raise an additional force 
of 50,000 men for three years or the war. Besides this force, the alarm 
created by the recent raid of Jackson, Ewell, and Johnson, into the Shen- 
andoah Valley, has led to a call for three months' volunteers in any num- 
bers offered within ten days. What the result of the call may be is not yet 
known, but at least 15,000 have already been organized under it. The 
practical result will be, I fear, to retard if not to defeat the enlistments 
necessary to create a strong army. Nous verrons, as Father Ritchie used 
to say. 

" I hope to hear to-morrow of the rout of Jackson's army in the Valley. 
That destroyed or routed, the 60,000 men engaged in the work will be 
free to cooperate with McClellan or anybody else. My conviction is, that 
there cannot be a great deal more fighting by large bodies. Corinth is 
already evacuated, and I doubt much if Richmond will be defended at the 
hazard of a great battle ; though a great battle seems more probable there 
in front of the rebel capital, than anywhere else. ..." 

From Mr. CJiase's Diary, July 21, 1863. 

Having received notice of a Cabinet meeting, Mr. Chase says : 
" I went to the President's at the appointed hour, and found that he 
was profoundly concerned at the present aspect of affairs, and had deter- 
mined to take some definite steps in respect to military action and slavery. 
He had prepared several orders, the first of which contemplated author- 
ity to commanders to subsist their troops in the hostile territory ; the 
second, authority to employ negroes as laborers; the third, requiring 
that both in the case of property taken and negroes employed, accounts 
should be kept with such degree of certainty as would enable compensation 
to be made in proper cases. Another provided for the colonization of 
negroes in some tropical country. 

" A good deal of discussion took place upon these points. The first 
order was unanimously approved'. The second was also unanimously ap- 



440 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

proved ; and the third by all except rayself. I doubted the expediency of 
attempting to keep accounts for the benefit of inhabitants of rebel States. 
The colonization project was not much discussed. 

" The Secretary of War presented some letters from General Hunter, in 
which General Hunter advised the department that the withdrawal of a 
large proportion of his troops to re'enforce General McClellan rendered it 
highly important that he should be immediately authorized to enlist all loyal 
persons without reference to complexion. Mr, Stanton, Mr. Seward, and 
myself, expressed ourselves in favor of this plan, and no one expressed him- 
self against it. Mr. Blair was not jDresent. The President was not pre- 
pared to decide the question, but expressed himself as averse to arming 
negroes." 

(The next day, July 22d,* anotlier meeting was held, and the 
discussion of the "orders" was resumed. Mr. Chase said:) 

" Went to the Cabinet at the appointed hour. It was unanimously 
agreed that the order in respect to colonization should be dropped ; and 
the others were adopted unanimously except that I wished North Carolina 
included in the States named in the first order. 

" The question of arming slaves was then brought up, and I advocated 
it warmly. The President was unwilling to adopt this measure, but pro- 

' In his diary of this same date, July 22d, Mr, Cliase says : " I called this mom- 
i-ng on the President with a letter received some time since from Colonel Key, in 
which he stated that he had reason to believe that if General McClellan found he 
could not otherwise sustain himself in Virginia, he would declare the liberation of 
the slaves ; and that the President would not dare to interfere with the order. I 
urged upon the President the importance of an immediate change in the command 
of the Army of the Potomac, representing the necessity of having a general in that 
command who would cordially and eflFectually cooperate with the movements of 
Pope and others ; and urged the change before the arrival of General Halleck, in view 
of the extreme delicacy of his position in this respect, General McClellan being his 
senior major-general. I said that I did not regard General McClellan as loyal to the 
Administration, although I did not question his general loyalty to the country. 

" I also urged General McClellan's removal upon financial grounds. I told him 
that if such a change in the command was made as would insure action in the army, 
and give power in the ratio of its strength, and if such measures were adopted in re- 
spect to slavery as would inspire the country with confidence, that no measure would 
be left untried which promised a speedy and successful result, I would insure that, 
within ten days, the bonds of the United States, except the five-twenties, would be 
so far above par that conversions into the latter stock would take place rapidly, and 
furnish the necessary nleans for carrying on the Government. If this was not done, 
it seemed to me impossible to meet necessary expenses. Already there were 
$10,000,000 of unpaid requisitions, and this amount would constantly increase. 

" The President came to no conclusion, but said he would confer with General 
Halleck on all these matters. I left him, promising to return to the Cabinet, when 
the subject of the orders discussed yesterday would be resumed." 



THE ARMING OF SLAVES. 441 

posed to issue a proclamation on the basis of the Confiscation Bill, calling 
upon the States to return to their allegiance — warning rebels that the pro- 
visions of the act would have full force at the expiration of sixty days — 
adding, on his own part, a declaration of his intention to renew, at the 
next session of Congress, his recommendation of compensation to States 
adopting the gradual abolishment of slavery — and proclaiming the eman- 
cipation of all slaves within States remaining in insurrection on the 1st 
of January, 1863. 

" I said that I should give to such a measure my cordial support ; but 
I should prefer that no new expression on the subject of compensation 
should be made ; and I thought that the measure of emancipation could 
be much better and more quietly accomplished by allowing generals to or- 
ganize and arm the slaves (thus avoiding depredation and massacre on 
one hand, and support to the insurrection on the other), and by directing 
the commanders of departments to proclaim emancipation within their 
districts as soon as practicable ; but I regarded this as so much better than 
inaction on the subject, that I should give it my entire support. 

'' The President determined to publish the first three orders forthwith, 
and to leave the other for some further consideration. The impression 
left upon my mind by the whole discussion was, that, while the President 
thought that the organization, equipment, and arming of negroes, like 
other soldiers, would be productive of more evil than good, he was not 
unwilling that commanders should, at their discretion, arm, for purely 
defensive purposes, slaves coming within their lines." 

(At tlie Cabinet meeting of August 3d, Mr. Chase said :) 

*' I again expressed my conviction that the time for the suppression of 
the rebellion, -ndthout interferiug with slavery, had long been passed ; that 
it was possible, jDrobably at the outset, by striking the insurrectionists 
wherever found, strongly and decisively ; but we had elected to act on the 
principle of a civil war, assuming that the whole population of every seced- 
ing State was engaged against the Federal Government, instead of treat- 
ing the active secessionists as insurgents and exerting our utmost energies 
for their arrest and punishment ; that the bitterness of the conflict had 
now substantially united the white population of the rebel States against 
us ; that the loyal whites remaining, if they would not prefer the Union 
without slavery, certainly would not prefer slavery to the Union; that the 
blacks were really the only loyal population worth colmting ; and that, in 
the Gulf States, at least, their right to freedom ought to be at once recog- 
nized ; while in the border States the President's plan of emancipation 
might be made the basis of the necessary measures for their ultimate en- 
franchisement ; tliat the practical mode of efiecting this seemed to me 
quite simple ; that the President had already spoken of the imi^ortance of 
making the freed blacks on the Mississippi, below Tennessee, a safeguard 
to the navigation of the river ; that Mitchell, with a few thousand soldiers, 



442 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

could take Vicksburg ; assure the blacks freedom on condition of loyalty, 
organize the best of them in companies, regiments, etc. ; and provide, as 
far as practicable, for the cultivation of the plantations by the rest ; that 
Butler should signify to the slaveholders of Louisiana that they must 
recognize the freedom of their work-people by paying them wages ; and 
.that Hunter should do the same thing in South Carolina. 

" Mr, Seward expressed himself in favor of any measures likely to ac- 
complish the results I contemplated, which could be carried into effect with- 
out proclamation ; and the President said he was pretty well cured of 
objection to any measure except want of adaptedness to put down the re- 
bellion, but did not seem satisfied that the time had come for the adop- 
tion of such a plan as I proposed." 



CHAPTEK XLIII. 

1862. 
To Hon. William M. Dickson, Cincinnati. 

"■WASHisaTON, August 29, 1S62. 
" . . . . Q[ INCE the incoming of General Halleck I have known but little 
fO more of the progress of the war than any outsider. — I mean' so 
far as influencing it goes. My recommendations, before he came in, -were 
generally disregarded, and since have been seldom ventured. In two or 
three conversations I did insist on the removal of McClellan, and the sub- 
stitution of an abler and more vigorous and energetic leader ; on the clear- 
ing out of the Mississippi, and the expulsion of the rebels from East Ten- 
nessee ; all of which might have been done. But, though heard, I was not 
heeded. 

" I hope for the best. Those who reject my counsels ought to know 
better than I do. ..." 

From Mr. Chase's Diary. 

August 29, 1863. — Mr. Stanton and Mr. Chase had a conference about 
General McClellan. " We called on Judge Bates, who was not at home ; 
then on General Halleck, and remonstrated against General McClellan; 
{he Secretary wrote and presented to General Halleck a call for a report 
touching General McClellan's disobedience of orders and consequent delaj 
of support to the Army of Virginia. General Halleck promised an answer 
to-morrow morning." 

August 80<A. — " Judge Bates called, and we conversed about McClellan ; 
he concurring in our judgment. Afterward I went to the War Department, 
where Watson showed me a paper expressing our views, and I suggested 
some modifications. I afterward saw Stanton. He approved the modifi- 
cations and we both signed it." (This paper was a protest, condemning 
General McClellan's conduct, and demanding his removal from the command 
of the army.) " I then took the paper to Mr. Welles, who concurred in 
judgment, but thought the paper not exactly right, and did not sign it. 
Returned the paper to Stanton. The promised report from General Halleck 
was not made," 



444 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

September 2d. — " The Cabinet met, but at the opening of the meeting 
neither the President nor the Secretary of State nor the Secretary of War 
■was present. While the talk was going on about General McClellan, the 
President came in, saying that he had been at the War Department and 
headquarters talking about the war. The Secretary of War came in. In 
answer to some inquiry, the fact was stated by the President or the Secretary 
that McClellan had been placed in command of the forces to defend the capi- 
tal or, rather, to use the President's own words, 'he had set him to putting 
these troops into the fortifications about Washington,' believing that he 
could do that better than any other man. I remarked that this could be 
done equally well by the engineer who had constructed the forts, and that 
putting General McClellan in command for this purpose was equivalent to 
making him second in command of the entire army. The Secretary of 
War said that no one was now responsible for the defense of the capital ; 
that the order to McClellan was given by the President direct to McClellan, 
and that General Halleck considered himself relieved from responsibility, 
although he acquiesced and approved the order ; that McClellan could now 
shield himself, should any thing go wrong, under Halleck, while Halleck 
could and would disclaim all responsibility for the order given. ; The 
President thought General Halleck as much responsible as before, and 
repeated that the whole scope of the order was, simply, to direct McClellan 
to put the troops into the fortifications, and command them for the de- 
fense of Washington. I remarked that this seemed to me equivalent to 
making him commander-in-chief for the time being, and that I thought it 
would prove very difficult to make any substitution hereafter, for active 
operations ; that I had no feeling whatever against McClellan ; that he 
came to the command with my cordial approbation and support ; that until 
I became satisfied that his delays would greatly injure our cause, he pos- 
sessed my full confidence ; that after I had felt myself compelled to with- 
hold that confidence, I had (since the President, notwithstanding my opin- 
ion that he should, refrained from putting another in the command) given 
him all possible support in every way, raising means and urging reenforce- 
ments ; that his experience as a military commander had been little else 
than a series of failures ; and that his omission to urge troops forward to 
the battles of Friday and Saturday evinced a spirit which rendered him 
unworthy of trust, and that I could not but feel that giving command to 
him was equivalent to giving Washington to the rebels. This, and more, 
I said. Other members of the Cabinet expressed a general concurrence, 
but in no very energetic terms. (Mr. Blair must be excepted, but he did 
not dissent.) 

" The President said it distressed him exceedingly to find himself dif- 
fering on such a point from the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the- 
Treasury ; but he did not see who could do the work wanted so well as 
McClellan. ... At length the conversation ended, and the meeting broke 
up, leaving the matter as we found it." 



GENERAL McCLELLAN. 445 

The following " ITotes on tlie Union of tlie Armies of tlie Po- 
tomac and tlie Araiy of Yirginia," were written by Mr. Chase 
just after the reinstatement of General McClellan in command 
of the army, September 2, 1862, and were intended to explain 
the causes which led to the withdrawal of his confidence . from 
that officer : • 

!'It may have been an error of my judgment, but certainly it was not a 
perversity of disposition, that caused my withdrawal of confidence from 
General McClellan. I welcomed him to the command of the army at 
Washington, with the most unaffected satisfaction, and when his delays 
disappointed my hopes, received with credence almost if not entirely abso- 
lute, the assurances of those having the best opportunities to know, that 
his activity was thwarted by the disinclination of General Scott to give 
him means and opportunities. I honored General Scott to the point of 
veneration, and shared the general confidence in his military knowledge 
and genius ; but I knew at what cost of physical suffering he discharged 
the arduous duties of his position, and was not surprised when he availed 
himself of the act of Congress, and asked to be retired. My voice was at 
once given in concurrence with those of other heads cf departments — we 
had no Cabinet — for the placing of General McClellan in command of the 
armies of the United States. The President was disinclined to this, but 
yielded his objection and the order was made. I immediately wrote a note 
to Colonel Key — McClellan's judge-advocate — ' McClellan is commander-in- 
chief ; let us thank God and take courage.' Subsequent events painfully 
convinced me that my confidence had not been warranted. 

" At the President's instance, General McClellan called on me in No- 
vember, and explained to me what he said was his plan. It was to send 
50,000 men to Urbana, on the Rappahannock ; establish them there im- 
mediately ; follow this advance by another body of 50,000 men at once ; 
push on to Richmond and capture it before the enemy in front of Wash- 
ington could move to its defense. Nothing but great energy and great 
secrecy could insure the success of such a movement, but with these its 
success seemed certain. He asked me how early an advance was necessary 
to the success of the finances, and I replied that I could get along under 
existing arrangements until about the middle of February ; and he assured 
me that the whole movement would be accomplished before the 1st of 
that month, and that he had already begun his arrangements for gathering 
his transportation at Annapolis. I was satisfied with these explanations, 
and when I went to New York soon after, expressed at a large meeting of 
leading capitalists my entire confidence in our young general, and my cer- 
tain assurance that we were to have no going into winter quarters. 

" When I returned from New York I found that no steps had been 
taken toward the proposed movement. November passed away and noth- 
ing was done or even begun. McClellan fell sick. The President called 



446 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

several generals to his councils — McDowell, Franklin, and Meigs — and 
almost determined to put the army under another leader and advance on 
Manassas. McCIellan got well just in time to neutralize action, and noth- 
ing was done. I had now so far lost confidence in him, that I was con- 
vinced a change ought to be made. 

" December passed and nothing was done. 

" In January Mr, Stanton came into the "War Department, and put his 
whole influence on the side of vigor. The President made a general order 
— January 27th — requiring all generals to put their commands in condition 
and to commence an onward movement at latest on the 22d of February. — 
Time j^assed in listless inaction ; broken only by the famous campaign 
toward Winchester. One morning forty thousand men found themselves 
put in motion, and McCIellan and his staff moved off in all the pomp of 
war to drive the rebels from that place, and seize the gate of the Shenandoah 
Valley. Boats to bridge the Potomac were provided and sent up the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The general and his staff proceeded perhaps 
to Weaverton — I do not know precisely how far — when, much to his dis- 
appointment, he learned that his boats were too big for the locks ! and 
therefore could not pass from the canal into the Potomac. So the expedi- 
tion was abandoned. Some troops under Banks went over the river ; but 
McCIellan and his staff and the great body of the army returned to "Wash- 
ington. The expedition, it was said, and not untruly, died of lock-jaw. 

"February came, and on the 13th General McCIellan said to me, 'In 
ten days I shall be in Richmond.' A little surprised at the near approach 
of a consummation so devoutly to be wished, I asked, ' What is your 
plan, general?' ' Oh,' said he, 'I mean to cross the river; attack and 
carry their batteries, and push on after the enemy.' ' Have you any gun- 
boats to aid in the attack on the batteries ? ' ^ ' No : they are not needed ; 
all I want is transportation and canal-boats, of which I have plenty that 
will answer.' I did not think it worth while to reply ; but made a note 
of the date, and waited. — The ten days passed away ; no movement, and 
no preparation for a movement, had been made. The day fixed by the 
order of the President had passed ; we heard the echoes of victory from 
the West, but all was quiet on the Potomac. 

" At length, about the 1st of March, the President gave McCIellan a 
peremptory order to move in ten days. Great efibrts were put forth to 
induce him to reverse the order. McCIellan convened a council of his^ 
generals, and having insjjired them with his ideas, sent them to the Presi- 
dent to give him the results of their deliberations. The President told 
me he had expected them, and had asked McCIellan to be present ; who 
had declined, on the ground that he did not wish to influence their deci- 
sion. They presented themselves at the White House, and eight, I think, 
were of opinion that it would not be safe to move till the 25th of April, 
while four were for an immediate advance. Of the four I recall only the 

^ The rebels at this time had several batteries upon the "Virginia side of the Potomac. 



DISASTERS BEFORE RICHMOND. 447 

names of McDowell, Sumner, and Heintzelman ; and of the eight, only 
those of Blencker, Fitz John Porter, Franklin, and Keyes. Mr. Stanton 
questioned each general as to the grounds of his opinion, and came to the 
conclusion that the advance should not be postponed. The tenth of the 
ten days came, and there was an immense commotion. The whole army 
was moving toward Manassas. As it aj^proached the place, it was found 
that the enemy had evacuated it some days before, and were in retreat 
toward Richmond. 

" It was now painfully apparent that our immense and magnificently 
appointed army had been held in check for months by a force not one- 
third as great in numbers, and inferior in almost all other respects, and 
that the impregnable fortifications, which had been so magnified by our 
generals, were works of little strength and incapable of withstanding any 
vigorous assault. The rebel flag had been flaunted in our sight from 
Munson's Hill by an inconsiderable detachment for months, until it was 
voluntarily withdrawn. Our generals had not ventured an attack on even 
this weak position. 

" After the evacuation of Manassas, the mode of advance upon Rich- 
mond became immediately the subject of debate. The President, the 
Secretary of War, myself, and some of the generals, favored a direct and 
rapid march forward. General McClellan preferred, I believe, the Urbana 
route. Most of the generals preferred the Peninsular route, by Fortress 
Monroe and Yorktown. McClellan preferred this to the direct advance, 
and it was finally determined upon. 

" I do not mean to review the disastrous campaign of the Peninsula. 
From the day the President told me McClellan was beaten, and I saw his 
dispatches announcing his retreat toward the James River, I never enter- 
tained a doubt of the necessity of withdrawing the army altogether, if it 
was to remain under his command ; and I expressed this opinion at once 
to the President. The military men said, that to attempt to withdraw 
the army would involve the loss of all its material, ammunition, guns, 
provisions, and stores. General McClellan himself, in his dispatches before 
reaching Harrison's Landing, referred to the possibility of being obliged 
to capitulate with his entire army ; and after reaching that place. General 
Marcy — his father-in-law and chief of stafi"— who had been sent up to 
explain personally the situation to the President, spoke of the possibility 
of his capitulation at once, or within two or three days. The danger of 
withdrawal ; the impossibility of strengtliening the army for an advance 
on Richmond from the iJosition to which it had retreated ; the certainty 
that no vigorous effort would be made by McClellan, by unexpected blows 
south of the James, to retrieve the disasters north of it ; the possibility of 
the loss of the entire army, convinced me, and convinced the Secretary of 
War, that the command of the army of the Potomac should be given to 
some more active officer. We proposed to the President to send Pope to 
the James, and give Mitchell the command of the army in front of Wash- 
ington — which had been constituted of the armies of Banks, Fremont, and 



448 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

McDowell, and called tlie Army of Virginia, and j)laced under Pope. The 
President was not prepared for any thing so decisive, and sent for Halleck, 
and made him commander-in-chief. I was not consulted as to this step. 
If any member of the Cabinet was, I am not informed of it. 

" On Halleck's arrival he went at once to the James to see McClellan. 
On his return, at the President's instance, he also came to see me as to the 
relations of the war to the finances. I cannot fix the date. It was late in 
July. He unreservedly condemned McClellan's whole military operations, 
and especially the conduct of the engagement before Richmond, and the 
subsequent retreat to the James. I told him that to a revival of the credit 
of the country two things were necessary : First, that some vigorous and 
able general should be placed in command of the army on tLe James 
River instead of McClellan ; and, secondly, that the IVIississippi should be 
opened. I spoke also of the importance of a more rapid advance into 
East Tennessee. He gave me no satisfaction on any point. He said that 
McClellan would do very well under orders from himself; that no force 
could be withdrawn from Grant if that general was to take Vicksburg 
and open the Mississippi; that Curtis's army was required to prevent in- 
vasion of Missouri from Arkansas ; and that Buell was marching toward 
Chattanooga, though his movements were intolerably slow. 

"About this time I saw a good deal of General Pope. It was just 
before he left Washington (where he had been detained by the President 
until Halleck's arrival), to take command of the army in the field. He 
condemned General McClellan's conduct more and in stronger terms than 
General Halleck; and said that in conversation be found Halleck quite 
agreed with him, but averse to precipitate action. He also said, what from 
other evidence I entertained no doubt of, that he had warned the President 
that he (Pope) could not safely command the Army of Virginia if its suc- 
cess was to depend on any cooperation of McClellan, for he felt assured 
that his cooperation would fail wherever emergencies should make it 
really important. 

" General Pope seemed to me an earnest, active, intelligent man, and in- 
spired me with the best hopes, I could not believe that McClellan would 
be continued in command until the failure dreaded by Pope should occur, 
and I therefore hailed his departure to the field with great satisfaction. 

"It had been already determined by General Halleck to withdraw 
General McClellan's army from the Peninsula. General Pope was ordered 
to push southward as far as he could with safety, and draw the enemy from 
Richmond. He did so. By several bold and skillfully-executed move- 
ments, he broke up the railroad in several places ; and not only drew their 
attention, but impeded considerably their progress toward him. His 
main army was advanced to the Rapidan, after driving Jackson back 
across that river by the battle of Slaughter or Cedar Mountain. This 
engagement and its results caused considerable delay to the enemy. 

"Meantime, after spending some days in remonstrances against the 
order of General Halleck, General McClellan began to send off his army 



SECOND BATTLE OF BULL EmT. 449 

from tlie James ; but his movement was much delayed by unwillingness 
to execute it. It had, indeed, become so apparent that a large proportion 
of the enemy's force had moved toward Pope, that it seemed to me, and I 
suggested to General Halleck, that an advance upon Richmond under a 
vigorous and able leader — or at any rate a march toward Fredericksburg, 
leaving Richmond on the left — was entirely feasible, and would secure 
the junction of the two armies sooner than transportation by the river and 
bay, and marches to Fortress Monroe and Torktown. He did not accept 
this idea, but insisted on the speediest possible embarkation and march of 
the troops, with a view to uniting them with the Army of Virginia, before 
the rebels could force Pope back on Washington with their massed force. 
So the movement went on. Some of the troops were embarked on transports 
and brought to Alexandria ; some were marched to Newport News and some 
to Yorktown, and there embarked and brought to Aquia and Alexandria. 
*' WhUe these things were taking place. Pope was vigorously disputing 
the advance of the enemy. When their whole force was concentrated be- 
fore him, south of the Rapidan, in the hope of overwhelming his army by 
superior numbers before a junction with McClellan's army could be effected, 
he suddenly fell back beyond the Rappahannock, without loss and with- 
out disorder. The enemy followed, and a protracted struggle took place 
on the Rappahannock. Pope disputed their crossing for many miles up and 
down that river from the station of the Orange & Alexandria RaUroad, 
but he was not in sufficient force to prevent them passing up the country, 
and by a long detour coming through the mountains. By this move- 
ment, the enemy succeeded in reaching Manassas Jimction in Pope's rear. 
He supposed they would find that place strongly occupied by troops from 
McClellan's army, but the fact was otherwise. The occupying force was 
inconsiderable and was easily scattered. Meanwhile Pope having defended 
the passage of the Rappahannock until the enemy had thus reached his 
rear, suddenly turned round and by rapid marches attacked the enemy at 
Manassas, followed him to the plains of Bull Run, and by a judicious dis- 
position of his forces, engaged him there at such advantage, before the 
rest of the rebel army could come up, that victory seemed almost certain. 
" During these last days, however, McClellan had arrived at Alexan- 
dria, and manifested great aversion to sending troops to General Pope. 
Repeated orders from General Halleck produced slow and inadequate re- 
sults in movements of troops. The feeling manifested by McClellan ex- 
tended itself to some of the officers of his army ; especially to Porter, who 
had been sent forward by the way of Aquia and Falmouth, and already 
made a part of Pope's command. This general manifested no disposition to 
act cordially under his new commander ; but on the contrary, by delays and 
ill-tempered action, so mismanaged his force that the victory, which seemed 
almost in the grasp of the Union army, was snatched from it. The result 
of the battle of Friday, when Pope's combined attack on the advanced 
rebel army was made, was indeed a success ; and had he been supported 

as he should have been, it would have been decisive. The advanced army 
29 



450 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

would have been captured or so thorouglily routed, that recovery, even 
with the heavy reenforcements near at hand, would hardly have been 
possible. As it was, the enemy fell back, only to be reenforced by the main 
body ; and the next day renewed the fight. Again Pope engaged them 
with his overworked and diminished forces ; but the divisions of Frank- 
lin and Sumner, eagerly expected, had been so long withheld from ad- 
vance, that they could not come up — the enemy proved too strong, and 
we lost the day. Pope had sent an earnest demand for supplies to McClel- 
lan, who answered that the wagons would be loaded, and if Pope would 
send a cavahy escort, would be sent forward ! Pope had no cavalry escort 
to send, and to secure supplies as well as to gain a safe position, withdrew 
his army across Bull Run to Centrevillethe night following the battle. 
At Centreville he was joined by Sumner and Franklin ; but the result of 
the battle, and the ill-feelings generated by disappointment had so de- 
moralized the army, that it did not seem safe to risk another engagement ; 
and the whole army was withdrawn within the fortifications. 

" Thus the union of the two armies was consummated. Will the true 
history of it ever be known ? It seems improbable, for the President, al- 
lowing the whole blame to fall on Pope and on McDowell — who, though 
superior in rank to Pope, had cheerfully acted under him — allowed Hal- 
leck to relieve them both from their respective commands, and he himself 
gave the command of the fortifications and the troops for the defense of 
Washington to McClellan. It was against my protest and that of the 
Secretary of War. 

" Heaven grant that the issue may show it was wisely done ! " 

To William G. Bryant, New York. 

" Washdiqton, September 4, 1862. 

" .... I recommended General McDowell as I did General McClellan ; 
neither more warmly, and I am perfectly willing to take my share with 
others, who recommended them just as I did, of the responsibility of 
their appointment. 

" My expectations of General McDowell have been better satisfied than 
those I formed of General McClellan. But the latter is supported by the 
enemies of the Administration and by many of its friends : and the Presi- 
dent, declaring himself unable to do better, and acknowledging that he is 
not doing well, places McClellan in command of the troops and fortifica- 
tions around Washington ; so that for the time being, at any rate, he is 
virtually restored to his former position of commander-in-chief. . . . 

" For my part, I know a large part of the truth, and my opinions are 
unchanged. 

" McDowell has been unfortunate ; but he is a loyal, brave, truthful, 
capable officer. He is a disciplinarian. While he never hesitated to ap- 
propriate private property of rebels to public use, he repressed, as far as 
possible, private marauding, as incompatible with the laws of civUized war- 
fare, and as equally incompatible with the discipline and efficiency of troops. 



GENERAL McDOWELL. 45I 

He believes that the immense trains with which our armies move are fatal 
to rapidity of operations, and so dangerous to final success. He has 
sought, therefore, to cut them down to the lowest point compatible with 
the effective condition of tlie troops. From these two causes come the 
large share of the complaints against him. Then he never drinks, or 
smokes, or chews, or indulges in any kind of license. He is serious and 
earnest. He resorts to no arts for popularity. He is attended by no clac- 
quers and puffers. He has no political aims, and perhaps no very pro- 
nounced political principles, except the conviction that this war sprung 
fi-om the influence of slavery, and that wherever slavery stands in the 
way of its successful prosecution, slavery must get out of the way. He is 
too indifferent in manner, and his officers are sometimes alienated by it. 
H^ is too purely military in his intercourse with his soldiers. There is an 
apparent hauteur: no, that is not the word — rough indifference expresses 
better the idea — in his way toward them, that makes it hard for them to 
feel any very warm personal sentiments toward him, unless they should 
find — what they have not hitherto found — that he leads them successful- 
ly, and that the honor of serving imder him compensates for their 
personal griefs. ..." 

To Colonel B. G. Parsons, Cleveland^ Ohio. 

" Washington, September 5, 1862. 

" . . . . Thank Benedict for his ' notice.' 

" I regret very much that some of our friends feel as they do. My 
judgment and conscience are satisfied with what I have done. 

" The rebels will not, I think, assail our fortifications, or attempt to 
cross the Potomac this side or at Harper's Ferry. They may try higher up. 

" I hope McDowell will demand a court of inquiry. He is atrociously 
abused and with great effect ; and being a simple soldier, he has small 
chance of self-defense, even if he would attempt it. 

" The last invention of those who hate him is, that his wife and the 
wife of Stonewall Jackson are sisters ! An earlier one made him my 
brother-in-law ! 

" He is my friend, and I am his ; and so long as I believe him loyal, 
truthful, straightforward, and honest, I shall remain his friend, whether 
he succeeds or fails as a military man. 

" Let him as a soldier be tried by the severest tests, and let aU others 
be tried by the same tests also. Let those only who endure the ordeal be 
put in the lead, whether personal Mends or personal enemies. ..." 

To Enoch T. Carson, Esq., Cincinnati. 

"Washington, September 8, 1862. 

" . . . . There is too much ground for the article in the Times which 

you sent me. It should have observed more caution ; but I fear I should 

not, in the editorial chair, have followed my own precept. We have not 

accomplished what we ought to have accomplished. We have put small 



453 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

forces waere large forces were needed, and have failed to improve advan- 
tages — the advantages we obtained. We have preferred generals who do 
little with much to generals who do much with little. We blame and 
praise with equal want of reason and judgment. . . . 

" General McClellan is again virtually in chief command, and has gone 
to the field with the army sent against the rebels in Maryland. This is 
against my judgment, but, having been overruled, I am endeavoring to do 
all in my power to secure success. McDowell is out of the way, and so is 
Pope, and so unity is apparently restored. The sacrifice is not too great : 
for no man should for a moment be preferred to any benefit to the coun- 
try. ...» 

From Mr. Chase's Diary, September 8, 1862. 

" Nothing of financial moment. Barney came in and said that Stan- 
ton and Wadsworth had advised him to leave for New York this evening, 
as communication with Baltimore might be cut off before to-morrow. Mr. 
B. said he would be governed by my advice. Told him I did not think 
the event probable, but that he had best be governed by the advice he 
had received." 

To Horace Greeley. 

"Washington, September 12, 1862. 

" .... I cut a slip from the BepuUican this morning about Mr. Stan- 
ton. It is less than justice to him. He has faults like other men ; but his 
energy has been all-important to us. . . . There has been no necessity, 
humanly speaking, for our ill-success. Providence has, as I believe, con- 
founded our counsels because of our complicity in crime against His poor. 
Mr. Stanton's voice has ever been on the side of the most vigorous and 
active employment of all our resources, moral and political as well as 
physical. Not only did he urge the order to move on the 22d of Feb- 
ruary, but he proposed to the President and myself the trip to Fortress 
Monroe in the revenue-cutter Miami ; he proposed and urged the sending 
of Rogers up the river, and the bombardment on the same day of Sewall's 
Point, with a view to the landing of troops there by General Wool, and a 
march upon Norfolk ; he cordially seconded my proposition to take the 
revenue-cutter and go myself in search of a landing in Lynch-Haven 
Bay, when landing at Sewall's Point was pronounced by General Wool 
to be impracticable ; and when the landing was foimd in three or four 
hours he urged Wool (nothing loath, by-the-way) to a prompt embarka- 
tion and march. The next day witnessed the march ; a panic, the capture 
of Norfolk, and the following morning the blowing up of the Merrimac. 
Nothing of all this, I verily believe, would have occiu-red but for Stanton's 
energy of will and thought. ..." 

• From Mr, Chase''s Diary, Septemder 12th. 

" Expenses are enormous, increasing instead of diminishing ; ill-suc- 
cesses in the field have so afiiected Government stocks that it is impossible 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 453 

to obtain loans except on temporary deposit. We are forced to rely on an 
increased issue of United States notes, which hurts almost as much as it 
helps. . . . 

" Went over to the War Department about two. Found that no im- 
portant intelligence of rebel movements had been received. The Secretary 
informed me that lie liad heard from General H. that the President is going 
out to see General McClellan ; and commented with some severity on his 
humiliating submissiveness to that officer. It is indeed humiliating, but 
prompted, I believe, by a sincere desire to serve the country, and a fear 
that, should he supersede McClellan by any other commander, no advan- 
tage would be gained in leadership, but much harm in the disaifection of 
officers and troops. The truth is, I think, that the President, with the 
most honest intentions in the world, and a naturally clear judgment, and 
a true, unselfish patriotism, has yielded so much to border State and ne- 
grophobic counsels, that he now finds it difficult to arrest his own descent 
toward the most fatal concessions. He has already separated himself from 
the great body of the party which elected him; distrusts most those who 
represent its spirit, and waits. For what ? " 

From Mr. Chase's Diary, Septemher 22, 1862. V^ 

" To department about nine. State Department messenger came with 
notice to heads of departments to meet at twelve. Received sundry call- 
ers. Went to the White House. All the members of the Cabinet were in 
attendance. There was some general talk, and the President mentioned 
that Artemus Ward had sent him his book. Proposed to read a chapter 
which he thought very funny. Read it, and seemed to enjoy it very 
much ; the heads also (except Stanton). The chapter was ' High-Handed 
Outrage at Utica.' 

" The President then took a graver tone, and said : ' Gentlemen, I have, 
as you are aware, thought a great deal about the relation of this war to 
slavery, and you all remember that, several weeks ago, I read to you an 
order I had prepared upon the subject, which, on account of objections 
made by some of you, was not issued. Ever since then my mind has been 
much occupied with this subject, and I have thought all along that the 
time for acting on it might probably come. I think the time has come 
now. I wish it was* a better time. I wish that we were in a better con- 
dition. The action of the army against the rebels has not been quite what 
I should have best liked. But they have been driven out of Maryland, 
and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of invasion. When the rebel 
army was at Frederick I determined, as soon as it should be driven out 
of Maryland, to issue a proclamation of emancipation, such as I thought 
most likely to be useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made a promise 
to myself and (hesitating a little) to my Maker. The rebel army is now 
driven out, and I am going to fulfill that promise. I have got you together 
to hear what I have written down. I do not wish your advice about the 



454 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

main matter, for that I have determined for myself. This I say without 
intending any thing but respect for any one of you. But I already know 
the views of each on this question. They have been heretofore expressed, 
and I have considered them as thoroughly and carefully as I can. What 
I have written is that which my reiiections have determined me to say. 
If there is any thing in the expressions I use or in any minor matter which 
any one of you thinks had best be changed, I shall be glad to receive your 
suggestions. One other observation I will make. I know very well that 
many others might, in this matter as in others, do better than I can ; and 
if I was satisfied that the public confidence was more fully possessed by 
any one of them than by me, and knew of any constitutional way in which 
he could be put in my place, he should have it. I would gladly yield it 
to him. But though I believe that I have not so much of the confidence 
of the people as I had some time since, I do not know that, all things con- 
sidered, any other person has more ; and, however this may be, there is 
no way in which I can have any other man put where I am. I am here. 
I must do the best I can, and bear the responsibility of taking the course 
which I feel I ought to take.' 

" The President then proceeded to read his Emancipation Proclamation, 
making remarks on the several parts as he went on, and showing that he 
had fully considered the subject in all the lights under which it had been 
presented to him. 

" After he had closed, Governor Seward said : ' The general question 
having been decided, nothing can be said further about that. Would it 
not, however, make the proclamation more clear and decided to leave out 
all reference to the act being sustained during the incumbency of the 
present President ; and not merely say that the Government "recognizes," 
but that it will maintain the freedom it proclaims ? " 

*' I followed, saying : ' What you have said, Mr. President, fully satis- 
fies me that you have given to every proposition which has been made a 
kind and candid consideration. And you have now expressed the con- 
clusion to which you have arrived clearly and distinctly. This it was 
your right, and, under youx oath of ofiice, your duty to do. The procla- 
mation does not, indeed, mark out the course I would myself prefer ; but 

1 Mr. Chase told me this : At this meeting of the Cabinet, after the President had 
said he was prepared to hear suggestions touching the proclamation, Mr. Seward 
proposed the change as stated in the text, and allowed some little time to elapse be- 
fore proposing that relating to colonization. The President hereupon asked Mr. 
Seward why he had not proposed both changes at once ? Mr. Seward made some 
not very satisfactory answer. Mr. Lincoln then said that Seward " reminded " him 
of a hired man out West who came to his employer on a certain afternoon, and told 
him (the employer) that one of a favorite yoke of oxen had fallen down dead. After 
a pause, the hired man added, " And the other ox in that team is dead, too." " Why 
didn't you tell me at once that both the oxen were dead ? " " Because," answered 
the hired man, " I didn't want to hurt you by telling you too much at one time ! " 



THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 455 

I am ready to take it just as it is written and to stand by it with all my 
heart, I think, however, the suggestions of Governor Seward very judi- 
cious, and shall be glad to have them adopted.' 

" The President then asked us severally our opinions as to the modifi- 
cations proposed, saying that he did not care much about the phrases he 
had used. Every one favored the modification, and it was adopted. Gov- 
ernor Seward then proposed that in the passage relating to colonization 
some language should be introduced to show that the colonization pro- 
posed was to be only with the consent of the colonists, and the consent of 
the States in which the colonies might be attempted. This, too, was 
agreed to ; and no other modification was proposed. IVIr. Blair then said 
that the question having been decided, he would make no objection to 
issuing the proclamation ; but he would ask to have his paper, presented 
some days since, against the policy, filed with the proclamation. The 
President consented to this readily. And then Mr. Blair went on to say 
that he was afraid of the influence of the proclamation on the border 
States and on the army, and stated, at some length, the grounds of his 
apprehensions. He disclaimed most expressly, however, all objections to 
emancipation 'per se, saying he had always been personally in favor of it — 
always ready for immediate emancipation in the midst of slave States, 
rather than submit to the perpetuation of the system." ^ 

To Sterne CMUenden, New TarTc. 

" WAsmNGTON, September 27, 1862. 

" I must not, as you will at once perceive, attempt to control the offi- 
cers of Government, appointed through this Department, in the selection 
of deputies and employes. Such control would impair the responsibility 
essential to faithful administration. 

" It is not improper for me to say, however, that in my judgment, men 
disabled from ordinary labors by wounds received in brave service to their 
country on the field, ought to be preferred, when qualified, in such selec- 
tions. No one would be more gratified than myself to see this rule 
adopted by all ofiicers charged with the duty of making subordinate ap- 
pointments. ..." 

To General 0. M. Mitchell. 

" Washingtok, October 4, 1862. 

" .... I have read with great attention both your letters, and have 
had some conversation with the Sectetary of "War in relation tor them. He 
is extremely desirous, and so am I, that you should be strengthened so as 
to enable you to accomplish important results ;* and I trust the time is not 
distant when this will be done. 

" You will pardon me if I frankly say that I think you err in desiring 
to come North with the best troops of the department. All our wishes 
point exactly the other way. In my judgment, our success for the next 



456 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

three montlis must be cbiefly on the coasts of the Atlantic and the Gulf, 
and they must be achieved in connection with an honest and thorough 
execution of the Confiscation Law and a wise system for the military and 
civic employment of the loyal black population. 

"I have read attentively what you say on the subject of prejudice in 
the army against the military employment of the blacks. It may not be 
wise altogether to disregard it. Perhaps the idea which you suggest of a 
separate establishment on one of the islands for the military organization 
of these natives of South Carolina may be expedient ; but I am very sure 
that a great deal may be done by firm and judicious speech and action, to 
allay if not entirely remove this prejudice. It will not do to give it free 
course and yield to it a passive submission. The demoralization thus pro- 
duced would be as much to be regretted as any that could be caused by 
the most unrestricted employment of the blacks. 

*' It is not true, as some allege, that any disproportionate care has been 
shown toward the blacks. It is a mean spirit which dictates such expres- 
sions. The blacks have been employed as laborers, at the most meagre of all 
possible compensations. Those who were organized into military companies 
were never paid, from the want of any order of the War Department to that 
effect. So far from having been preferred in any respect, the commonest 
duties toward them have either not been performed at all, or ill performed. 

" In conversation with the Secretary of "War in relation to General Sax- 
ton, he informed me that General Saxton's duties were not independent of 
you as the commander of the department, but that, on the contrary, he was 
to report to you and act in general subordination to the military adminis- 
tration of the department. I know so well General Saxton's loyalty and 
judgment, that I am sure you can have no difficulty with him, but will 
find cordial and efficient cooperation, unless, indeed — which, of course, can- 
not be anticipated — you should take part with the insubordinates who seek 
to thwart the policy of the Government, as declared in the President's 
proclamation and otherwise, in respect to the only class of the Southern 
population who really sympathize with the efforts of the Government to 
suppress the insurrection. 

" I thought the other day, that I had secured your old brigade to you, 
and to General Garfield, who, I understand, is to be sent into your depart- 
ment, his. Both brigades are now at or near Louisville, I believe. I do 
not yet give up the hope of accomplishing this." 

To B. C. ElrTc, of Ohio. 

"Washington, October 6, 1862. 

" . . , . We have spent large sums of money and sacrificed a vast number 
of precious lives, without coimting the shattered constitutions and the 
maimed limbs of multitudes of survivors ; and yet we seem to be stiU far 
from the final issue. I cannot doubt what the final issue will be. The 
vast preparation now making both by land and sea, insure success, unless 



GENERAL McCLELLAN AGAIN. 457 

God takes sides against us. "We shall soon have iron-clad ships enough to 
batter down any fortress, and take any town on the coast, from Norfolk to 
Brownsville. Our army, in numbers, equipment, and military character 
surpasses greatly any which the enemy can bring into the field. I tremble 
when I think how a storm may wreck our iron-clads, and feebleness in 
counsel and action ruin our army ; but I trust that God has not willed the 
destruction of the American Republic, and with more confidence since the 
President has placed the power of the Government unequivocally on the 
side of justice to the oppressed. ..." 

To General John Cochrane, 

" Washington, Octoler 18, 1862. 

". . . . My indisposition has prevented me from much intercourse 
with other members of the Administration, so that I have not been able to 
ascertain the condition of opinion in relation to the measures you pro- 
posed to me. 

" It has of course been impossible for me to visit headquarters ; nor 
do I think it would be exactly delicate for me to do so without an invita- 
tion. 

"My judgment in respect to the course demanded by the public inter- 
est remains unchanged. No man can lament General McClellan's want of 
success more than I do. No man has labored more sincerely and earnestly 
to supply the means of success. No man would more sincerely rejoice if 
now, by a series of prompt and decisive movements, he might more than 
retrieve all he has lost in the judgments of sincere and judicious and patri- 
otic men. 

" My longing and my prayer is, for the salvation of the country. He 
whom God may honor as the instrument of its salvation, whoever he may 
be, shall be my hero. Magnus mihi erit Apollo. 

"■ General McClellan will remember my talks with him of a year ago — 
how I told him then of the necessity of sharp and decisive action to my 
ability to provide the means to carry on the war. By miracles almost I 
have been enabled to get on this far, notwithstanding our disasters. But 
the miracles cannot be repeated ; and I see financial disaster imminent. I 
dare not say all I feel and fear. My hope is in the prompt and successful 
use of all the immense resources in men and means now provided." 

To General Lovell H. Bousseau. 

" Washington, October 25, 1862. 

" .... I congratulate you on your deserved promotion, and on the 
confidence your brave and manly course has won for you. I earnestly hope 
that higher distinction, if not higher position, awaits you. 

"The feaiiessness which did not hesitate to avow uncompromising 
Unionism in a timid Senate, and jDrompted the declaration that slavery 



458 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

must not stand in the way of the suppression of the rebellion, has made 
your name honored by multitudes. May your services and honors in- 
crease ! . . . " 

To General William 8. Bosecram. 

"Washington, October 25, 1862. 

",...! have contributed but little to your advancement. It was in 
my power to secure your original appointment as brigadier. To the proofs 
you have given of your capacity and courage, and the readiness of the 
Secretary of "War to recognize those qualities, you owe your subsequent 
advancement. You have had my good wishes and my good words, and I 
ascribe little to either. You are my debtor for little more than firiend- 
ship. . . , 

" I suppose that the rebels for the most part have left Kentucky. Now, 
then, for East Tennessee ! — the grand central fortress ; the key to the whole 
position of the rebellion. Get East Tennessee, my dear general ! get pos- 
session of East Tennessee as rapidly as possible. Make that vast natural 
fortress ours and yours. Deliver the loyalists of the mountains, who have 
cried to us so long in vain. Then you may almost choose where to strike. 
The rebel artery will be cut — the great east and west line which has been 
their strength and our weakness. Your communications can easily and 
securely be kept open with the Ohio River, and with pq^-haps a little more 
diflSculty, with the Mississippi at Memphis. ..." 

To John Toung^ Esq., Cincinnati. 

" Washington, October 2T, 1862. 
" .... I do not wonder that dissatisfaction prevails. The President, 
from the purest motives, committed the management of the war almost 
exclusively to his political opponents. In the honesty of his heart, he 
thought that in the presence of great danger to the country all political 
differences might be safely disregarded. Unfortunately, those whom he 
has trusted have not sympathized with him in the conduct of the war. 
While he has been urging action, they have been making excuses for 
delays. The great error has been that he received these excuses and toler- 
ated inaction. I have long remonstrated against it, and predicted its in- 
evitable consequences. It is within a few days of a year, since I strongly 
urged prompt action on McClellan, and received his positive assurances 
that prompt action should be had. "When General Halleck came, I urged 
upon him the necessity of opening the Mississippi and driving the rebels 
from East Tennessee, and giving a brave and able general to the Army of 
the Potomac. He promised notJiing, and did it. I think, however, that 
at last the President is thoroughly aroused. The appointment of Rose- 
crans is a specimen of what may be looked for. Active preparations are 
now making for striking every point in rebeldom that can be reached, and 
I shall be greatly disappointed if within the next three months it does not 
become clear to the whole world that rebellion cannot prosper, but will 



ADMISSION OF WEST VIRGINIA. 459 

be suppressed. It is sad to think of the delay and inaction which have 
marked the past, but I am confident that it will not characterize the 
future. ..." 

To the President, 

" Washington, December 29, 1862. 

" . . . . My thoughtful attention has been given to the question which 
you proposed to me as head of one of the departments, touching the act 
of Congress admitting the State of West Virginia into the Union. The 
questions proposed are two : 

" 1. Is the act constitutional ? 

" 2. Is the act expedient ? 

"1. In my judgment the act is constitutional. 

" In the convention which framed the Constitution the foitaation of new 
States was a subject much considered. Some of the ablest men in the 
convention, including all or nearly all the delegates from Maryland, Dela- 
ware, and New Jersey, insisted that Congress should have power to form 
new States within the limits of existing States, without the consent of the 
latter. All agreed that Congress should have the power with that consent. 
The result of deliberation was the grant to Congress of a general power to 
admit new States, with a limit on its exercise in respect to States formed 
within the jurisdiction of old States, or by the junction of old States, or 
parts of them, to cases of consent by the Legislatxires of all the States 
concerned. 

" The power of Congress to admit the State of "West Virginia, formed 
within the existing State of Virginia, is clear, if the consent of the Legis- 
lature of the State of Virginia has been given. That this consent has 
been given cannot be denied, unless the whole action of the executive and 
legislative branches of the Federal Government, during the last eighteen 
months, has been mistaken, and is now to be reversed. 

" In April, 1861, a convention of citizens of Virginia assumed to pass 
an ordinance of secession; called in rebel troops, and made common 
cause with an insurrection which had broken out against the Government 
of the United States. Most of the persons exercising the functions of the 
State government in Virginia joined the rebels, and refused to perform their 
duties to the Union they had sworn to j)rotect. They thus abdicated 
their power of government in respect to the United States. But a large 
portion of the people, a number of the members of the Legislature, and some 
judicial ofiicers, did not follow their example. Most of the members of 
the Legislature, who remained faithful to their oaths, met at Wheeling, 
and reconstituted the government of Virginia, and elected Senators in Con- 
gress, who now occupy seats as such. Under this reconstituted govern- 
ment a Governor has been elected, who now exercises executive authority 
throughout the State, except so far as he is excluded by armed rebellion. 
By repeated and significant acts, the Government of the United States has 
recognized this government of Virginia as the only legal and constitutional 
government of the whole State. 



460 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" And in my judgment, no other course than this was open to the 
national Government. In every case of insurrection involving the persons 
exercising the powers of State government, where a large body of the peo- 
ple remain faithful, that body, so far as the Union is concerned, must be 
taken to constitute the State. It would have been as absurd as it would 
have been impolitic, to deny to the large loyal population of Vii'ginia 
the powers of a State government, because men, whom they had clothed 
with executive or legislative or judicial powers, had betrayed their trusts 
and joined in rebellion against the country. 

" It does not admit of doubt, therefore, as it seems to me, that the 
Legislature which gave its consent to the formation and erection of the 
State of West Virginia, was the true and only lawful Legislature of the State 
of Virginia. The Madison Papers clearly show that the consent of the 
Legislature of the original State was the only consent required to the erec- 
tion and formation of a new State within its jurisdiction. That consent 
having been given, the consent of the new State, if required, is proved by 
her application for admission. 

"Nothing required by the Constitution to the formation and admis- 
sion of West Virginia into the United States is, therefore, wanting ; and 
the act of admission must, necessarily, be constitutional. 

" Nor is this conclusion technical, as some may think. The Legislature 
of Virginia, it may be admitted, did not contain many members from the 
eastern counties. It contained, however, representatives from aU the 
counties whose inhabitants were not either rebels themselves, or dominated 
by greater numbers of rebels. It was the only Legislature of the State 
known to the Union. If its consent was not valid, no consent could be. 
If its consent was not valid, the Constitution, as to the peojDle of West- 
Virginia, has been so suspended by the rebellion that a most important 
right under it has been utterly lost. 

" It is safer, in my opinion, to follow plain princii^les to plain conclu- 
sions, than to turn aside from consequences, clearly logical, because not 
exactly agreeable to our views of expediency. 

" 3. And this brings me to the second question : Is the act of admis- 
sion expedient ? 

"The act is almost universally regarded as of vital importance to their 
welfare, by the loyal people most immediately interested, and it has re- 
ceived the sanction of large majorities in both Houses of Congress. These 
facts afford strong presumptions of expediency. 

"It is, moreover, well known that for many years the people of West 
Virginia have desired separation on good and substantial grounds ; nor do 
I perceive any good reason to believe that consent to such separation would 
now be withheld by a Legislature actually elected from all the counties of 
the State, and untouched by rebel sympathies. 

" However this may be, much— very much — is due to the desires and 
convictions of the loyal people of West Virginia. To them admission is 
an object of intense interest ; and their conviction is strongly esi^ressed 



EMANCIPATION MATTEES. 461 

that the veto of the act and its consequent failure would result in the pro- 
found discouragement of all loyal men and the proportionate elation and 
joy of every sympathizer with rebellion. Nor is it to be forgotten that 
such a veto will be regarded by many as an abandonment of the views 
which have hitherto guided the action of the national Government in rela- 
tion to Virginia ; will operate as a sort of disavowal of the loyal govern- 
ment, and may be followed by its disorganization. No act, not impera- 
tively demanded by constitutional duty, should be performed by the Ex- 
ecutive if likely to be attended by consequences like these. 

" It may be said, however, that the admission of West Virginia may 
draw after it the necessity of admitting other States under the consent of 
extemporized Legislatures assuming to act for whole States, though really 
representing no important part of their territory. I think this an imagi- 
nary necessity. There is no such Legislature, nor is there likely to be. No 
such Legislature, if extemporized, is likely to receive the recognition either 
of Congress or the Executive. The case of West Virginia will form no 
evil precedent. Far otherwise. It will encourage the loyal by the assur- 
ance it will give of the national recognition and support ; but it will in- 
spire no hopes that the national Government will countenance needless and 
unreasonable attempts to break or impair the integrity of States. If a case 
parallel to that of West Virginia shall present itself, it will doubtless be 
entitled to like consideration ; but the contingency of such a case is surely 
too remote to countervail all the considerations of expediency which sus- 
tain the act. 

" My answer to both questions is, therefore, aflBrmative. ..." 

To the President. 

"Washington, December 31, 1862. 

". . . . In accordance with your verbal direction of yesterday, I most 
respectfully submit the following observations in respect to the draft of a 
proclamation designating the States and parts of States within which the 
proclamation of September 33, 1863, is to take effect according to the 
terms thereof. 

" I. It seems to me wisest to make no exceptions of parts of States 
from the operation of the proclamation other than the forty-eight coun- 
ties of West Virginia. My reasons are these : 

" 1. Such exceptions will impair, in the public estimation, the moral 
effect of the proclamation, and invite censures which it would be well, if 
possible, to avoid. 

" 3. Such exceptions must necessarily be confined to some few parishes 
and counties in Louisiana and Virginia and can have no practically useful 
effect. Through the operation of various acts of Congress, the slaves of 
disloyal masters in those parts are already enfranchised, and the slaves of 
loyal masters are practically so. Some of the latter have already com- 
menced paying wages to their laborers, formerly slaves ; and it is to be 



/ 



* ■ 

462 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. / 



feared tliat if, by exceptions, slavery is practically reestablished in fa^^or 
of some masters, -wliile abolished by law and by the necessary effect of 
military occupation as to others, very serious inconveniences may arise. 

" 3. No intimation of exceptions of this kind is given in the September 
proclamation, nor does it appear that any intimations otherwise given have 
been taken into accoimt by those who have participated in recent elections, 
or that any exceptions of their particular localities are desired by them. 

" n. I think it would be expedient to omit from the proposed proc- 
lamation, the declaration that the Executive Government of the United 
States will do no act to repress the enfranchised in any efforts they may 
make for their actual freedom. This clause in the September proclamation 
has been widely quoted as an incitement to servile insurrection. In lieu 
of it, and for the purpose of refuting these misrepresentations, I think it 
would be well to insert some such clause as this: '■Not encouraging or 
countenancing^ Twwever, any disorderly or licentious violence.^ If this altera- 
tion be made, the appeal to the enslaved may, properly enough, be omitted. 
It does not seem to be necessary, and may furnish a topic to the evil-dis- 
posed for criticism and ridicule. 

" III. I think it absolutely certain that the rebellion can in no way be 
so certainly, speedily, and economically suppressed, as by the organized 
military force of the loyal population of the insurgent region, of whatever 
complexion. In no way can irregular violence and servile insurrection 
be so surely prevented, as by the regular organization and regular mili- 
tary employment of those who might otherwise probably resort to such 
courses. 

" Such organization is now in successful progress ; and the concurrent 
testimony of all connected with the colored regiments in Louisiana and 
South Carolina is that they are brave, orderly, and elBcient. General 
Butler declares that without his colored regiments he could not have at- 
tempted his recent important movements in the La Fourche region, and 
General Saxton bears equally explicit testimony to the good conduct and 
efficiency of the colored troops recently sent on an expedition along th6 
coast of Georgia. 

" Considering these facts, it seems to me that it would be best to omit 
from the proclamation all reference to the mUitaiy employment of the en- 
franchised population, leaving it to the natural course of things already 
well begun ; o"r, to state distinctly, that in order to secure the suppression 
of rebellion without servile insurrection or licentious marauding, such 
numbers of the population declared free, as may be found convenient, will 
be employed in the military and naval service of the United States. 

"Finally, I respectfully suggest • that on an occasion of such interest 
there can be no just imputation of affectation against a solemn recognition 
of responsibility before men and before God, and that some such close as 
follows will be proper : 

" ' And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war- 



THE EMANCIPATION PEOCLAMATION. 463 

ranted by the Constitution, and of duty, demanded by the circumstances 
of the country, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the 
gracious favor ^f Almighty God.' " 

With this letter Mr, Chase submitted to the President a 
draft of a proclamation which embodied the ideas expressed in 
the letter. That draft was as follows : 

" Whereas, On the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was 
issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other 
things, the following, to wit : (Here inserting certain paragraphs from that 
proclamation ; then continuing :) 

" ' Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against 
the authority and Government of the United States, and as a proper and 
necessary war-measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day 
of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hvmdred and sixty- 
three, and in accordance with my intention so to do publicly proclaimed 
for one hundred days, as aforesaid, order and designate as the States and 
parts of States in which the people thereof are this day in rebellion against 
the United States, the following, to wit : 

" ' Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 
South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the forty-eight coun- 
ties designated as West Virginia. 

" ' And, by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do 
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated 
States, and parts of States, are, and henceforth forever shall be, feee ; and 
that the Executive Government of the United States, including the mili- 
tary and naval authorities, will recognize and maintain the freedom of 
Baid persons — not, however, encouraging or in any way sanctioning any 
disorderly conduct or licentious violence ; to prevent which, and secure 
the earliest possible termination of the insurrection with the least possible 
injury to persons and property, such portions of the population hereby 
declared free as may be found convenient and useful will be employed, 
under suitable organization, in the military and naval service of the 
United States, as well as in other avocations for which they may be 
adapted and required. 

" 'And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war- 
ranted by the Constitution, and an act of duty demanded by the circum- 
stances of the country, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and 
the gracious favor of Almighty God.' " 

In the proclamation issued by the President on the 1st of 



464 LIFE or SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

January, 1863, lie adopted tlie closing sentence proposed by Mr. 
Chase (his own draft contained no such expression), but modi- 
fied thus : "And upon this act, sincerely belie ve(> to be an act 
of justice, warranted by the Constitution, uj^on military neces- 
sity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the 
gracious favor of .Almighty God." 



CHAPTEE XLIY. 

ME. CHASE AND THE WAE. 
1863. 

To Major Balston Skinner^ with General Bosecrans. 

""Washington, January 6, 186S. 
" . . . . "TTTHEN I read of the death of poor Gareschg I trembled for 
V V you ; but as the telegraph does not report you wounded 
or missing, I suppose you are safe and am thankful. 

" The success of Rosecrans has lifted a fearful weight from the breast 
of the country, and it seems to me the success was emphatically his. To 
be sure, his brave officers and men were indispensable, but, as I read the 
accounts, his own genius and courage, and indefatigable persistence, won 
the day. You can scarcely imagine what a personal gratification it is to 
me ; but the personal gratification is nothing compared with that which 
the benefit to the country inspires. ..." 

To William Curtis Nbyes, New YorTc. 

"WASHrNGTOK, April 7, 1863. 

" . . . . The point to which I wish to draw your attention is this : It 
seems to me that in no way can a greater good be accomplished just now 
than by the organization of a National Emancipation Commission, which 
shall charge itself with the well-being of the emancipated blacks in the 
States to which the proclamation applies ; in States also which may eman- 
cipate by voluntary legislation, and in all States where persons are found 
entitled to freedom under the acts of Congress. 

" Take, for example, the present condition of things on the Mississij^pi. 
Had our generals on tht^t river, ten months ago, enlisted all the able-bodied 
blacks willing to serve in military organizations, I believe we should to- 
day hold possession of the entire river, if indeed the whole rebellion had 
not been practically subdued. Had such a commission as I now suggest 
existed, charing itself with the care of the families of black soldiers ; 
with the provision of lands for cultivation and homes for those families 
and to such colored men as could not enlist ; and with — to some extent — 
30 



466 I'IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the organization of the labor not employed by Government, who can tell 
■what great results might not have followed ? 

" So deeply did I feel this at the time, that I made myself — under 
many disadvantages, and with the smallest possible time for the work — a 
sort of commission for Port Royal, and its results were not contemptible, 
though I had to endure much remark that was not pleasant, and with 
little sympathy where I should have found much. 

"It is not too late to organize a commission which shall do for the 
whole country what I wished done for Port Royal. 

" The beginning should be, I think, a meeting of half a dozen gentle- 
men in New York : prudent, active, resolute, patient men, who should 
organize themselves as a National Emancipation Commission. The num- 
ber might be increased by additions from other cities and places, none 
being admitted at first, except by unanimous consent, in order to secure 
harmony and efiiciency. Admissions might afterward be made under 
less strict regulations, being careful always to secure, however, a united 
and energetic administration. 

" You are the man to begin. Select your five co-workers from the best 
men in New York : get together and organize. Then lay your plan of 
action before the War Department, and I am confident you will have Mr. 
Stanton's cordial cooperation. You shall have mine and that of my 
agents. ..." 

To the President. 

" PmLiDELpmA, April 22, 1S63. 

" . . . . My purpose in visiting Philadelphia and New York at this 
time is to ascertain if a loan, say of $50,000,000, to pay off" the army, can- 
not now be obtained. The only difficulty I find in the way springs from 
the painful uncertainty generally prevalent as to the future of the war. 
Notwithstanding this, however, I hope to succeed; and I am greatly 
cheered by the resolved determination which appears to animate all our 
friends. This is a sentiment which can easily be converted into tri- 
umphant gladness by the achievement of some important successes, and, 
above all, by the development of some settled and promising plan for the 
successful termination of the contest. ..." 

To Major B. G. Ludlow. 

"Washington, May 12, 1868. 
" .... I look at the war under both military and political aspects ; 
and it seems to me that military occupation should be immediately fol- 
lowed by political reconstruction, in order to secure permanent advantages. 
Hence I would select, as the theatre of operations, those sections of the 
hostile country in which reconstruction would be easiest and most stable. 
Those sections are on the Gulf. — I would take Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, 
and Texas, and make free States of them as rapidly as possible. I would 
arm the loyal native population, white and black, so as to put them into a 



ARMY MATTERS AND MOVEMENTS. 467 

conditiou of self-defense. Then I would push northward up the Missis- 
sippi, and southward into East Tennessee and the mountain-regions. 

" In some such way as this, I think the rebellion could be most speedily 
and economically crushed. ..." 



To Major- General Hooker. 

"Washington, May 14, 1863. 

" . . . . Would it not be well to replace Sigel in command of the Elev- 
enth Corps ? I heard of a letter written some days before the battle to a 
Mend, in which he complained bitterly of General Howard because of his 
interference with the German ways of the soldiers, from motives of religious 
duty, and predicted that the troops, from dissatisfaction, would prove un- 
reliable. . . . Sigel seems to me earnest and capable, and certain it is that 
the Germans are devoted to him. Is it not best to avail of that special 
strength which he can give ? " 



To Major- General Garfield. . 

" Washejqton, May 14, 1863. 

" . . . . Rumors are rife of a movement in, Lee's array. Since the de- 
feat of May 4th (Chancellorsville) the Army of the Potomac has been quiet ; 
gradually, indeed, losing strength from the expiration of the nine months' 
terms. If Lee is actually moving, he will find no divided armies before 
him as formerly under Pope and McClellan, and will have no child's play 
to encounter. It seems to me, indeed, the very thing to be desired, and I 
am confident Hooker will make him repent of it. If Lee does not move, 
I expect Hooker will soon take the initiative. — The rumor of rebel 
movements has certainly some support in actual conditions. Just after 
the late battles, an autograph letter from Jefferson Davis to a Mississi])pi 
officer under Lee, came into our possession, in which Davis spoke of the 
great difficulty of sending reenforcements to Lee, though he was anxious 
to do so. The truth is, I suppose, that the- rebels cannot much increase 
their present force, and that the difficulties of movement are constantly be- 
coming greater. Of course, as our armies are everywhere more or less 
weakening by the expiration of terms, the rebels are now relatively stronger 
than they ever will be again. If they wUl take the offensive under any 
circumstances, they will probably do so now. 

The enlistment of colored troops is going on well. The Florida pro- 
ject, which was much discouraged, seems now likely to be realized ; and 
it is not unlikely that colored troops will be mainly relied on for its ac- 
complishment. The first regiment from Massachusetts has already gone 
to Port Royal. The second will probably follow in less than a fortnight. 
A regiment is being raised here also. ..." 



468 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

To Major- General HooTcer. 

"Washington, June 20, 1SC8. 

" .... On returniBg from your headquarters, I called on the Presi- 
dent and Secretary of "War, each of whom seemed gratified by what I had 
to state. My conviction is strong that you will want nothing which can 
contribute to your success. I am confident that General Halleck does not 
entertain a thought or a sentiment which will prompt the least embarrass- 
ment of any of your actions. If you entertain any such apprehension, let 
me beg you to dismiss it absolutely, and call on the commanding general 
freely for what you want. Lay your views unreservedly before him, and 
count on his support ; I feel quite sure it will not be wanting. 

*'.... The President and Secretary of "War both expressed admira- 
tion at the prompt celerity which has distinguished all your movements 
of troops. ..." 

To Miss Chase. 

"Washington, June 25, 1863. 

*'.... Matters are becoming more serious, though not at all alarm- 
ing, in this region. The situation, as now^ understood, indicates that Lee 
is about to try an invasion of Maryland, and possibly of Pennsylvania. 
There is an opinion, not held by many, that he may attempt to reach the 
Ohio at Pittsburg or Wheeling. Six-miles-a-day marches are over, how- 
ever, and he will get no great distance in any direction, without feeling 
Hooker strike him. The severe slaps in the face he has already received 
at Brandy Station and at Aldie are samples in little of what he is to ex- 
pect. If God smiles on active and earnest work on the right side, Lee 
will never take his army back to Richmond. General Halleck was in 
Baltimore yesterday, looking after matters there, and when he returned 
found Hooker here, who had ridden in to confer with him. . . . Where 
Hooker is this morning it would be hard to tell. He is certainly with his 
army, and I suppose in motion. Where he will be to-night I cannot 
guess ; but he will be where he thinks he can render most service. 

"The news from Vicksburg is to the 18th, and all was going on 
well, as also at Port Hudson. . . . Indeed, every thing looks well on all 
sides. ..." 

To the President. 

" Washington, Jime 28, 1863. 

" . . . . There are two or three circumstances which perhaps I should 
have mentioned, this morning, when the subject of General Hooker's re- 
quest to be relieved was talked about. I suggested that the request was 
properly attributable to General Hooker's persuasion that he could not 
rely on cordial cooperation from General Halleck, and mentioned the 
receipt from the latter by the former, when I happened to be with him, 
of a telegram authorizinfj General Hooker to issue commands direct to 
troops in the department of General Heintzelman and General Schenck, 



HOOKER'S WITHDRAWAL. 469 

from which I drew an argument, which I urged on General Hooker, that . 
General Halleck, far from being unwilling, was really anxious to support him. 

" I forgot to say what struck me at the time the telegram came — that 
it was quite general in its terms, and did not except from the authority 
given the troops essential for the immediate defense of Washington and 
Baltimore so distinctly as would have been desirable. 

" Mght not this written telegram have conveyed to General Hooker a 
larger notion of his authority than was intended ? I thought at the time . 
that it would lead to difficulties through misapprehension. 

" After the receipt of it, I have learned at the War Department that 
General Hooker issued an order to the general commanding at Alexandria, 
which was disobeyed. General Hooker directed him to be placed in 
arrest; but it turned out that the officer was simply obeying an order from 
General Heintzelman, at headquarters of the army, to disregard all orders 
not proceeding from one or the other of these sources. Tou will readily 
understand what distrust this conflict of orders might give rise to. A 
day or longer afterward, General Hooker ordered the commanding officer 
at PoolesviUe to proceed to Harper's Ferry. I believe the order was 
obeyed ; but just such an order as was addressed to the commanding offi-^ 
cer at Alexandria, was addressed to General Heintzelman at headquarters, 
was addressed to the commanding officer (Colonel Jewett, I believe) at 
PoolesviUe ; this act, again, was most unfortimately calculated to impair 
confidence. 

"Then, finally, came the order detaining a large force at Harper's 
Ferry against General Hooker's urgent call for them in his advance. I 
know nothing of the military reasons for it ; but can easUy imagine that 
an army occupying a position like that of the Maryland Heights would be 
of little use, when the main army was in advance of thenl and would fall 
'back and reoccupy the position should it become necessary. 

" I mention these matters for your consideration, and in order that no 
injustice may be done to anybody. ..." 

To Miss (Jliase. 

"WASHiKaTON, J'wie 29, 1S68. 
" . . . . You must have been greatly astonished to hear that General 
Hooker was relieved ; but your astonishment could not have exceeded 
inine. It was at his own request ; and the request must have been very 
suddenly resolved upon, for his telegram asking to be relieved was dated 
at eight o'clock on Saturday night, and I received one from Butterfield 
dated at six, or half-past, suggesting some military movements in Vir- 
ginia, in which there was not the slightest allusion to Hooker's purpose. 
What prompted the request I do not know. I did not hear of it, nor of 
the appointment of Meade in his place, till Sunday, when, at a meeting 
of the heads, called for a different purpose, having no connection with 
Hooker's affairs, the President mentioned it to us. 



470 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" I understand that General Meade is preferred by the majority of the 
officers of the army to any one except Hooker, and perhaps now to him. 
General Meade was at once notified of his appointment, and, though 
taken entirely by surprise, accepted it in a modest telegram, and at once 
entered upon his duties. By this time, I presume he has the army well in 
hand. 

" .... I like General Halleck personally, and he seems to have large 
'capacity ; but he does not worlc, work, work, as if he were in earnest. 

" . . . . There has been a good deal of alarm here yesterday and to-day, 
because of the enemy's cavalry coming very close to the city, with sup- 
posed designs on the Washington «& Baltimore and the Baltimore & Ohio 
Railroads. I should not be surprised at the cutting of one or both the 
roads ; but I attach no great consequence to these raids. While the rebels 
are doing these things near Washington, we are doing the same thing near 
Richmond, where, as you have doubtless seen, one of our detachments on 
Friday or Saturday burned the bridge across the South Anna, and cap- 
tured General W. F. Lee, and other rebel officers and privates, and many 
mules and wagons. Still, these things are pleasanter to do than to suffer. 

" There is, of course, a great deal of concern about the operations of 
the two great armies ; a concern naturally increased by the action of Gen- 
eral Hooker. In respect of them I hope the best and trust in God. ..." 

To General Grant. 

"Washington, July 4, 1863. 

" .... It has long been on my mind to express to you my deep sense 
of your great services to our country ; but I have forborne, lest you might 
think I overstepped a civilian's limits. 

" Having occasion now, however, to write you briefly on another sub- 
ject, I will not deny myself the gratification of adding my personal thanks 
to the gratitude which the whole patriotic people feel toward you for the 
patient energy and skillful courage with which you have conducted the 
military operations under your direction. God has crowned you with 
success hitherto, and will, I trust, continue to prosper our arms under 
your conduct. 

" Vicksburg, probably, has already succumbed. Whether so or not, 
its speedy fall can hardly be doubted ; and its capture cannot fail to be 
followed by the rapid and complete suppression of the rebellion in the 
whole region west of the Mississippi, and by the complete control of the 
river from its mouth to Cairo. 

" It has given me great satisfaction to be somewhat useful in sustain- 
ing you here by laying before the President, from time to time, the letters 
of Mr. Mellen, the excellent supervising General Agent of the Department 
for the Valley of the Mississippi. He has taken every pains to inform 
himself accurately, and has constantly defended you against the assaults — 
sometimes of slanderous malice, sometimes of mistaken honesty — and has 



"SCOTTY" AND OTHER MATTERS. 47I 

as constantly awarded to you the praise of doing all that ability, zeal, and 
fidelity could accomplish. ..." 

To General Thomas L. Kane. 

" Washington, July 9, 1863, 
" .... I have just received your congratulatory card, and have shared 
in the rejoicing which fills your own heart in the successes of our armies. 
God be praised for our victories, and honor and gratitude to the heroes 
who have achieved them. . . . 

" The skies brighten all round the horizon. Vicksburg already fallen — 
the fall of Port Hudson daily looked for — our armies everywhere active — 
the rebels exhausted and retreating : is it not now clear that God will 
give us the victory ? May He inspire our hearts with nobleness enough 
to make it a sure guarantee of freedom and justice for all ! ... " 

To David Tod, Governor of Ohio. 

" Washington, October 3, 1863. 

" .... A few days ago, when our Ohio boys returned from New 
York, I visited them at Alexandria. There were four regiments — the 
Fiftieth, Sixty-fifth, Twenty-third, and Seventh — much reduced in num- 
bers, but full of pluck and patriotism. In the Fiftieth there is a private 
named James Gray, of whose exploits wonderful stories were told by the 
officers. At Port Republic he had taken a gun from the enemy ; at Cedar 
Mountain he had staid behind, when his companions had retreated, and 
fired off the guns as a last compliment to the enemy, were among the 
things said of him. I was told that the officers of the brigade had united 
in requesting from you a commission for him, which you had declined to 
give. . . . But he is very proud of the testimonials transmitted to you, 
and desires greatly to possess them-. I promised to ask you for them, and 
send them to him, if obtained. I hope you will have no difficulty in 
granting this request, and that I may receive them soon. 

" The brigade went to the front immediately after my visit, and has 
since been sent, as I understand, to reenforce Rosecrans. If you wlQ send 
me 'Scotty's' testimonials, however, they shall reach him, if he is yet 
above-ground. ..." 

To Major-Oeneral EooTcer. 

"Washington, December 21, 1863. 
" .... I have been quite unwell of late, and my correspondence is a 
good deal in arrears. Still, I must take time to dictate a few lines to you. 
I cannot tell you how much I have been gratified by your brilliant achieve- 
ments in Tennessee and Georgia. How providential it was that you were 
sent West at the head of the Eleventh and Twelfth Corps ! It seems clear 
now that, but for ;Mr. Stanton's determination in insisting upon these re- 
enforcements going promptly, and going under you, Rosecrans's army 



473 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

would have experienced the gravest disasters. And then it seems equally 
providential that the assault on Lookout Mountain had to be made under 
your direction. The only thing I do not clearly see the value of, is your 
magnificent achievement near Kinggold, It was a splendid battle splen- 
didly won. But what is the use of sacrificing so much to take a town, if, 
after all, the town is to be abandoned, and the army is to fall back ? 
Whether it was necessary to fall back or not, I find myself unable to form 
any judgment : General Grant ought to know best. I most sincerely hope 
he was governed by the best and most patriotic motives. Grant's whole 
career has excited my admiration and commanded my respect, and there 
certainly ought to be no jealousies between two such officers as you and 
he. Each should rejoice in what adds to the honor of the other. ..." 



CHAPTEE XLY. 

1863-1864. 

THE ASSAULT UPON ME. SEWARD IH 1862 EESIGNATION OF ME. 

OHASE WITHDEAWS IT AISTD EESUMES OFFICE IS A CANDIDATE 

FOE PEESIDENTIAL NOMETATION IN 1864 HIEAM BAENET ^RE- 
PUBLICAN PAETY IN NEW TOEK QUAEEEL OVEE THE CUSTOMS 

IN NEW YOEK CONGEESSIONAL INVESTIGATION ^AREEST OF 

A. M. PALMEE FEAJSK BLAIe's SPEECH IN THE HOUSE OF EEP- 

EESENTATIVE3 OFFICIAL PATEONAGE HOW IT IS DISPENSED 

ASSISTANT TEEASUEEe's OFFICE IN NEW TOEK EESIGNATION OF 

ME. CISCO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING A SUCCESSOE EESIGNATION 

OF ME. CHASE DEATH OF CHIEF-JUSTICE TANEY ME. LINCOLN 

NOMINATES ME. CHASE TO BE CHIEF-JUSTICE. 

DURIlSrG the summer and autumn of 1862 a feeling of 
great hostility to Mr. Seward grew up among the friends 
of Mr. Lincoln's Administration. It was founded upon a belief 
that Mr. Seward possessed a large influence over the President, 
and that this influence was not exercised for good. Shortly 
after the meeting of Congress in December of that year, this 
sentiment of hostility to Mr. Seward was found to be deep and 
severe.* There was some interchange of views among the Pe- 
publican members of Congress, which led to the disclosure of a 
great unanimity of opinion upon the subject, and resulted in a 
meeting of Pepublican Senators on the 17th of December to 
take the matter into consideration. After some discussion a 
resolution was passed requesting the President to dismiss Mr. 
Seward from ofiice. This resolution was adopted by a majority 

^ " Lincoln and Seward," by Gideon "Welles, ex-Secretary of the Navy, p. 81, et seq. 



474 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

of one vote. While there was an ahnost unanimous desire on 
the part of the assembled Senators to proceed against Mr. Sew- 
ard, there was a large minority who thought some less offensive 
mode of action might be quite as effective as a direct vote per- 
sonally referring to the Secretary of State. It was agreed, there- 
fore, with but a single dissenting voice — that of Mr. Preston 
King, of New York — that the President should be requested to 
reconstitute his Cabinet, and that a statement of the reasons 
which prompted this request should be prepared and submitted 
to the President at the same time. It was well understood that 
the whole proceeding was aimed at Mr. Seward, and that the 
reasons alleged as the motive for the request, were intended to 
be particularly applicable to that gentleman. A committee of 
nine Senators was appointed to wait upon the President and in- 
form him of the action of the meeting. At the head of this com- 
mittee the venerable Judge Collamer, of Vermont, was placed. 
But these extraordinary proceedings being immediately commu- 
nicated to Mr. Seward by Mr. Preston King, before the com- 
mittee could wait upon the President, the Secretary of State, in 
order to anticipate its action, resigned his office. The whole 
aff-air was a surprise to Mr. Lincoln and roused his opposition. 
He determined to resist the attack upon Mr. Seward, and in this 
purpose was powerfully aided by the unsolicited action of Mr. 
Chase. 

The reasons alleged by the assembled Senators as their mo- 
tive for asking a reconstruction of the Cabinet, were intei'preted 
by Mr. Chase as being wide enough in their scope to include all 
the heads of departments. He was assured by the participants 
in the meeting that they were particularly intended to apply to 
Mr. Seward. Mr. Chase was not willing so to construe them. 
He was not willing to be party to an ambuscade upon the Sec- 
retary of State ; and in order, therefore, to give the President 
an opportunity in good faith to reconstruct his Cabinet, and be- 
cause he believed Mr. Seward ought to be retained, on the 20th 
of December he resigned his office. 

This was an unexpected result to the Senate meeting. The 
retirement of Mr. Chase was everywhere regarded as a public 
calamity ; but it gratified Mr. Lincoln, who saw in it a means of 
defeating the congressional dictation. He promptly seized 



MR. CHASE RESIGNS— 1862. 475 

upon tlie general wish for Mr. Chase's continuance in office, 
and made it available for the retention of Mr. Seward. He 
addressed a joint note to Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase, saying 
that, after an anxious consideration of the subject, it was his 
deliberate judgment that the public interest did not admit of 
their withdrawal from office. He therefore requested them to 
resume the duties of their respective departments. It was the 
President's intention and expectation that there should be a 
conference between Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase, and it was 
with this view that he addressed his note to them jointly, that 
their action and reply might be joint and not separate; it 
being at the same time his distinctly avowed purpose to make 
Mr. Seward's restoration to the State Department dependent 
upon Mr. Chase's return to the Treasury. Mr. Seward did 
not confer with Mr. Chase, however, but embarrassed him 
as well as Mr. Lincoln by a prompt and separate acceptance 
of the President's invitation. This was on Sunday morning, 
the 21st of December. He then — that same day — advised Mr. 
Chase of what he had done, much to Mr. Chase's surprise and 
more to his regret. Mr. Chase did not respond until the next 
morning, when — in obedience not only to the President's strong- 
ly-expressed desire, but to that of the country unmistakably 
manifested — ^he notified to Mr. Lincoln his return to the duties 
of office. 

Mr. Lincoln on frequent occasions expressed his gratitude 
to Mr. Chase for his action at this conjuncture, since it deliv- 
ered him from congressional dictation, and enabled him to re- 
tain an officer for whom he had a strong personal regard and in 
whose judgment he reposed trust. But Mr. Chase secured, as 
his share in the profits of the transaction, many and permament 
enemies. 

Mr. Chase's resignation in June, 1864, grew out of differ- 
ences of opinion between the President and himseK, touching 
the appointment of a successor to Mr. Cisco, in the sub-Treas- 
urer's office in Kew York City ; and was promptly accepted by 
Mr. Lincoln — more promptly, perhaps, than it otherwise would 
have been, but for the connection of Mr. Chase's name with the 
presidential nomination in 1864. 

During the winter of 1863-64, a feeling of great despond- 



4:'ilQ LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

encj prevailed among tlie people. The war had been pro- 
longed beyond all expectation ; it was immense in its propor- 
tions ; nor was the end apparently near, nor could it be very safe- 
ly predicted. A strong conviction grew up that a change in ad- 
ministration was necessary, and in this conviction many leading 
Republicans participated. A movement was put on foot with a 
view to present Mr. Chase for the Republican nomination at 
Baltimore. A committee of gentlemen waited upon him ; they 
urged him to consent to a use of his name as a candidate for 
the presidential succession. He at first hesitated, and did not 
answer promptly ; but, despondent and dissatisfied himself with 
the conduct of the war, and beheving that if he were at the 
head of the Government he could infuse into its prosecution 
vigor and energy; and perfectly certain that he sought, para- 
mount to all other considerations, the good of the country, he 
finally gave his consent.* This consent may have been a mis- 
take, but, even admitting it to have been such, it was an honest 
and patriotic one. 

The movement fell, however, into bad hands ; it was badly 
officered and was badly managed. A circular was prepared, 
embodying the objections to Mr. Lincoln's reelection, and the 
considerations which were in Mr. Chase's favor. "With a sur- 
prising want of tact and sense, this circular was marked " confi- 
dential," and was sent to perhaps a hundred persons. Of course 
it fell into the hands of Mr. Lincoln's friends, who denounced 
it with unsparing vigor. If at any previous time the " Chase 
movement " had been attended by the least likelihood of suc- 
cess, that likelihood was promptly and utterly extinguished by 
the appearance of the " Pomeroy Circular." Counter-circulars 
were issued by Lincoln committees ; public sentiment reacted 
in his favor, and grew stronger as time passed, and ended in his 
renomination and reelection, as is matter of familiar history. 

Mr. Chase was ignorant of the preparation of this circular, 
and was as much surprised at its appearance as any one, and 
regretted it as deeply ; but he could not publicly disavow the 

^ Mr. Chase was a "believer in that curious political abstraction called the " one- 
term principle," and this consideration had some weight in his mind ; and he 
thought, also, that no interruption would occur, in consequence of his candidacy, 
in his relations with the President. A mistake, of course, as events proved. 



THE NEW YORK CUSTOM-HOUSE. 477 

action of his own friends, however ill-advised and inopportune 
that action was. 

The relations "between the President and the Secretary were 
serionsly embarrassed by these events, and still more so by a 
struggle between rival factions in the Republican party in New 
York to get possession of the custom-house in that city. The 
history of that struggle is of no small interest and import- 
ance. 

The appointment of Hiram Barney to be collector at the port 
of New York was Mr. Lincoln's own act, done upon his own per- 
sonal responsibility ; because of his knowledge of Mr. Barney, 
and confidence in his capacity and integrity. The selection was, 
however, peculiarly gratifying to Mr. Chase. His acquaintance 
with Mr. Barney in 1860 was of nearly twenty years' standing; 
for eighteen years (since 1842) they had been business correspond- 
ents, and since 1848 they had been personally and politically in- 
timate. The President's choice of Mr. Barney for so important 
a post in his own department was, therefore, a matter of sincere 
gratification to Mr. Chase. But the close personal friendship ex- 
isting between the new collector and both the President and the 
Secretary of the Treasm*y, became a source of painful embarrass- 
ment to him, when Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Chase were, for a short 
period in 1863 and 1864, rival candidates for a presidential nomi- 
nation. The next paragraph will show the nature and extent of 
that embarrassment. 

The Pepublican party in New York was divided into two 
factions, radicals and conservatives ; the conservatives claiming 
to be the special friends of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Barney was re- 
garded as having radical proclivities, and as inchning rather in 
the direction of Mr. Chase's nomination, but his friendly rela- 
tions with both the President and the Secretary, joined with his 
ideas of the proprieties of his position as a public officer — the 
subordinate as well of the Secretary as of the President — led him 
to decline participation in the efforts of the friends of either as 
against the other. He made appointments and conducted the 
affairs of the custom-house without reference to the interests of 
the rival factions, or of presidential candidates. Mr. Barney had 
foreseen this embarrassment, and for this reason and because of 
seriously failing health, in the autumn of 1863 had asked to be re- 



478 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

lieved from his position as collector ; but neither the President 
nor the Secretary would then consent to his retirement — the 
friends of the former asserting that the appointment of a new col- 
lector, at that time, would raise dissensions dangerous to the har- 
mony if not the integrity of the Cabinet. Toward the end of the 
year 1863, Mr. Barney was urged by leading opponents of Mr. 
Chase to declare himself in favor of Mr. Lincoln ; and was signifi- 
cantly warned that, unless he did so, " he would be attached." Mr. 
Barney then emphatically renewed his refusal to take sides, and 
declared that he would continue to perform the duties of his office, 
and would be ready for attacks of whatever character and from 
whatever quarter. Early in January, 1864, the threatened attack 
was made. It came in the form of a resolution in the House of 
Eepresentatives directing an investigation by the Committee on 
Eeconstruction, into alleged misconduct in the management of the 
custom-house, with relation particularly to shipments of contra- 
band goods. This committee acted promptly upon its instructions, 
and proceeding at once to ITew York, began the examination. 

Mr. Barney's private clerk, Albert M. Palmer, a young man 
of about twenty-six years of age — supposed to be in the posses- 
sion of important secrets of the collector — was, in the temporary 
absence of Mr. Barney, seized and thrust into a cell in Port La- 
fayette ; and for a considerable time was denied communication 
with his wife and friends. ]^o charges were made against him 
then, and none have been made against him since. He asked to 
be confronted with accusers and accusations if there were any, 
but no accuser appeared and no accusation was made. He suf- 
fered months of confinement before he was enlarged ; and the 
cause of his enlargement was and is as officially unknown as the 
cause of his arrest and imprisonment. 

But the motive of Palmer's arrest was perfectly well under- 
stood. It was expected that, separated from his family and 
friends, ignorant of accuser and of accusations, and of what was 
going on in the active world of which he had lately been a part, 
and utterly alone, he would inculpate his chief. The method 
pursued in examining him was extraordinary, and would not 
have been tolerated in a court of justice. But Palmer was 
neither a coward nor a rascal ; he bore himself like a man con- 
scious of innocence, and showed himself nobler than his inquis- 



CUSTOM-HOUSE INVESTIGATION. 479 

itors : lie said lie knew no wrong in Mr. Barney's official con- 
duct, and that he would rot in the fort rather than make a lying 
charge against him. 

After the appointment of this committee, a messenger from 
the Fret. 'dent waited on Mr. Barney, and informed him that Mr. 
Lincoln — aware of his ill-health and of his desire to resign the 
collect orship — would now accept his resignation, and would give 
him such foreign diplomatic appointment as would agree with 
his tastes, and help in restoring his health. The President had 
authorized his messenger to assure Mr. Barney that his friend- 
ship and confidence were unabated. The collector replied that 
up to the time when his official conduct had been questioned, he 
would gladly have retired, as the President well knew, but he 
must now remain and resist the attack upon him, at whatever 
risk to his health and comfort ; that neither he nor the President 
could then afford such an arrangement as the one proposed. It 
would subject both to the most damaging criticism. 

The investigation was allowed to go on ; but it was a failure. 
The committee developed some criminal acts on the part of one 
of the employes of the custom-house, a boy of nineteen or 
twenty years of age, who had been bribed to commit them, and 
some irregularities which " did not arise," as the committee said, 
"from any neglect in the custom-house in administering the 
law, but were organic in traffic carried on in similar cu'cum- 
stances, however regulated. " The eminent merchant, Mr. 
Alexander T. Stewart, testified that the business of his estab- 
lishment with the custom-house was attended to as satisfactorily 
as, if not more so than, under former Administrations ; and not 
a single circumstance was evolved to show any other than a care- 
ful and prudent business management, and a perfect integrity 
on the part of the collector. 

The President and Mr. Chase were deeply interested wit- 
nesses of the committee's proceedings, but from different stand- 
points. The President was precluded from removing an officer 
appointed upon his own personal responsibility, except for a just 
cause, and he had no reason to doubt, and he did not doubt, the 
fidelity and integrity of Mr. Barney's administration; but he 
sympathized with the collector's enemies. Mi*. Chase offered no 
objection to investigation ; no one more than he desired the ex- 



480 LIFE OF SALMON POETLAND CHASE. 

posm-e and correction of real abuses, but lie despised tbe incen- 
tives to this inquisition, and rejoiced at its defeat. 

Meantime, pending these events, Mr. Frank P. Blair — a 
member of Congress from Missouri, and a brotber of Mont- 
gomery Blair, the Postmaster-General — made an extraordinary 
speech in his place in the House of Representatives. This speech 
was a most bitter and abusive attack upon Mr. Chase, and was 
supposed to be in part prompted by the Postmaster-General, be- 
tween whom and the Secretary of the Treasury there was known 
to exist a strong personal and political hostility. The origin of 
this feud is unimportant here ; but, I am glad to be able' to say, 
that before the death of Mr. Chase, the relations between him- 
self and the former Postmaster-General had become cordial, if 
not those of an active friendship. When Mr. Chase was ap- 
pointed Chief -Justice, Mr. Blair had some apprehension that his 
practice in the Supreme Court might be embarrassed by the 
hostilities of their Cabinet association ; but he found the Chief- 
Justice too noble-minded to be moved, by private animosities, 
even to a discourtesy in the performance of public duties. But 
this is digression. A few days after making his speech against 
Mr. Chase, Mr. Blair, of the House of Pepresentatives, was 
nominated by the President to be a major-general of volunteers. 
This apparent indorsement of General Blair's attack, was ex- 
tremely irritating to Mr. Chase. But Mr. Lincoln disavowed 
any design of wounding him by the nomination, or of indors- 
ing Blair's attack, and Mr. Chase could not, and did not, doubt 
the President's perfect sincerity. But his position as head of a 
department was not improved by the occurrence. 

The canvass for the presidency wore on, with increasing bit- 
terness between the friends of Mr. Lincoln and those of Mr. 
Chase, in which both the principals became more or less involved, 
until there was a good deal of estrangement between them. It 
was a genuine and hearty relief to Mr. Chase, therefore, when 
the action of the Republican members of the Ohio Legislature, 
in passing a resolution indorsing a renomination of Mr. Lincoln, 
gave him an opportunity to withdraw his name. He promptly 
did so, in a letter admirable for its good spirit and good feeling. 
But his withdrawal did not heal the breach between himself and 
the President. Their intercourse gi-ew more constrained and 



THE GOVERNMENT PATRONAGE. 481 

formal, and it became evident that separation depended upon 
adequate occasion. 

Now, tlie patronage in the gift of the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, at the beginning of the war, was much greater than that 
dispensed by any other head of a civil department; it was 
greater, perhaps, than that of all the other heads of civil depart- 
ments combined, and it grew with the progress of the war, until 
at the close of it, in 1865, the Treasury employes, direct and in- 
direct, could not have numbered less — at a rough estimate — than 
fifteen thousand persons. The long exclusion from power of the 
opponents of the Democratic party had keenly whetted the Ee- 
publican appetite for place and oflice, and with the incoming of 
the new Administration a sweeping change of office-holders was 
expected to be made. Throngs of applicants for place fiocked 
to Washington immediately after Mr. Lincoln's inauguration ; 
and hundreds who did not go there in person, sent their agents ; 
and the mails were loaded down with written applications, ac- 
companied by petitions and recommendations of friends and 
political " backers," almost without number. This was not due 
wholly to mere clamor for public employments ; but very largely 
to the depressed condition of the industries and trade of the 
countiy, which induced many to seek office who otherwise, prob- 
ably, would not even have thought of it. But the halls and 
anterooms of all the departments were filled with applicants, and 
for two or three months it seemed as if the chief business of the 
heads was to guillotine the " ins," that their places might be 
occupied by the " outs." 

All this was strictly consonant with the political sentiment 
of the American people, since our party codes recognize and act 
upon the maxim that to the victors belong the spoils. Of course, 
the defeated party always has a strong perception of the vicious 
immorality of the maxim, and more especially of the practice it 
involves, but the victorious party never has. All parties de- 
nounce it, and all parties practise it, just as defeat makes them 
virtuous, or victory makes them vicious. 

The practice goes further even than the maxim. If heads 

of departments were left free to make choice of subordinate 

officers, untrammeled by any other consideration than that of 

secm'ing faithful servants out of the ranks of the party in power, 

31 



482 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

the evil miglit not be so great and oppressive. Local and indi- 
vidual interests, however, make freedom in appointments almost 
impossible. Those interests override faithful administration 
for the common public good ; the upshot being that local poli- 
ticians and members of Congress seize and hold possession of the 
Federal offices, almost as matter of right. The consequences 
are visible on all sides. 

Mr. Welles mentions a curious instance of this spirit : A 
conference was held at the office of the Secretary of State, one 
evening in March, 1861, to consider the Federal appointments in 
the State of New Tork, " relative to which differences of opinion 
existed," not, as it would appear, between the Secretary of the 
Treasury and others, but, " between the Secretary of State and 
the Senators from E'ew Tork." The President was reluctantly 
present, having invited Mr. Welles to accompany him, and the 
other members of the conference were Mr. Seward and Senators 
Harris and Kina:. The President said he would relieve them of 
any embarrassment touching the collector of customs at Kew 
York, the most important of these offices, by appointing, upon 
his own responsibihty, and from personal knowledge, Hiram 
Barney, who had his confidence, and was a man of integiity. 
Mr. Welles proceeds : " After listening to the disposition of 
some coUectorships and other offices, in which there was an 
approximation to agreement, an intimation was thrown out by 
Mr. Seward that he wished the list which he had made out, and 
which was somewhat extended, might be completed, and the 
nominations sent forthwith to the Senate. This embarrassed the 
two Senators, who were not prepared for so hasty a movement. 
I inquired if the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney- 
General had been consulted and concurred in the selections. 
Mr. Seward said they had not ; that it was unnecessary ; that 
these were 'New Tork appointments, and he and the Senators 
knew better than any others what was best for the party and 
Administration in the State ; . . . that there were personal and 
party matters to be considered, which neither Mr. Chase nor Mr. 
Bates could understand so well as himself ! " ^ The President and 
Mr. Welles both dissented from these views ; the former saying, 
that " to fill the New Tork appointments as Mr. Seward wished, 

^ " Lincoln and Seward," by ex-Secretary Gideon Welles, p. 12, et seq. 



NEW YORK SUB-TREASURY. 483 

without consulting the Secretary of the Treasury and others 
directly interested, would, he was convinced, not be satisfactory." 
The Senators do not seem to have been embarrassed on account 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, but for themselves, because of 
Mr. Seward's prompt way of settling their differences to his 
own satisfaction, and without particular reference to their in- 
terests or desires. 

It was sufficiently distasteful to Mr. Chase that, in dispensing 
patronage, party interests should dominate those of the common- 
weal ; though he did not doubt that in many instances vacancies 
might properly be made : for example, where the action of the 
incumbent involved the principles of the party, and that action 
was hostile to those principles. And he beUeved, and acted 
upon the belief, that vacancies occurring in the natural course of 
events, should be filled from the ranks of the party in power, 
unless, for specific reasons, the pubhc interest could be otherwise 
better served. But he did not believe in a universal change in 
the Federal offices ; and he believed still less in making those 
offices the mere servitors of Congressmen and local politicians. 
He listened to their suggestions and recommendations with a 
patient regard for their wishes, and a desire to benefit by their 
local knowledge, and resisted them when he thought it a public 
duty to do so. 

JS'or is it to be wondered at, in view of the extent and value 
of the Treasury patronage, that its disposal was attended by 
peculiar vexations. 

One of the most important of the Federal offices — the most 
important, financially, next after that -e^ the Secretary of the 
Treasury, at any rate during the war-^s that of Assistant 
Treasurer in the city of New York. Its necessarily intimate 
connection with the monetary interests of the metropolis and 
money-centre of the country, and its incalculable importance to 
the financial transactions of the Government, made its admin- 
istration during, the war one of great difficulty and responsi- 
bility. In 1864, over $1,200,000,000 in cash, coin and currency, 
was received and paid over its counters. Its employes w^e 
about one hundred in number, and they were chosen with no 
other reference to their opinions than that they were honestly 
loyal to the rightful authorities of the Government. But above 



484 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

all mere party considerations were the indispensable require- 
ments of business capacity and experience, and established moral 
character. 

Mr. John J. Cisco had served in this important office from the 
beginning of President Pierce's term until near the close of the 
fii'st term of Mr. Lincoln. His health was a good deal impaired 
by the severe and incessant demands which its duties devolved 
upon him. He wished to retire, but was induced to remain as 
well by the solicitations of the President as of the Secretary of 
the Treasury, until it became imperative upon him to give it up. 
In May, 1864, he wrote his resignation, to take effect on the 30th 
of June following ; and as it could be declined no longer, Mr. 
Chase sought a successor. 

The relations between the Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Assistant Treasurer at ISTew York are of the most intimate and 
confidential nature, and Mr. Chase felt that in the selection of 
the new incumbent he would be allowed a great freedom of 
choice, it being understood that it would fall upon a supporter 
of the Administration and a man of known capacity and integrity. 
Mr. Chase was mistaken ; he was not free to make choice upon 
this view of the public interest and of official requirement, but 
was expected to conform his choice to the wishes of Mr. Edwin 
D. Morgan, a United Stktes Senator from New York. Appar- 
ently Mr. Morgan was not so deeply interested in the business 
management of the office, as in the political opinions of its em- 
ployes. 

Three names were presented by Mr. Morgan, none of which 
were satisfactory to Mr. Chase. All three were utter strangers 
to him, and none of them were at all familiar with the duties of 
the office ; and what was worse, the appointment of any one of 
the three meant a " reform " in the office in. the interest of the 
conservative faction in the Pepublican party. Mr. Chase cared 
neither for the radicals nor the conservatives, but he cared a 
great deal for a safe administration of the office. He therefore 
offered it successively to three conspicuous financial.gentlemen of 
New York ; to Moses Taylor, to Denning Duer, and to John A. 
Stewart. All these gentlemen declined. He thereupon resolved 
to nominate Mr. Maunsell B. Field, then Assistant Secretary of 
the Treasury. Mr. Field had served some time in the sub-Treas- 



NOMINATION OF SUB-TREASURER. 485 

iirer's office in New York as assistant to Mr. Cisco ; he was thor- 
oughly conversant with its duties, and had discharged them to 
the satisfaction alike of Mr. Cisco and of the Treasury, and be- 
cause of the ability and business qualities displayed in this place 
had been transferred to Washington as an Assistant Secretary of 
the Treasury. His integrity was not questioned ; he was recom- 
mended by Mr. Cisco and leading merchants and bankers of JSTew 
York, and had the indorsement of all the Union members of 
Congress from New York, except of Mr. Morgan. But he was 
supposed to be a radical ; which was not true, though he was of 
Democratic antecedents. It was perfectly well known, however, 
that he would make few or no changes in the officers and clerks 
of the sub-Treasurer's office ; and this was, after all, the exact 
spot at which the shoe pinched. 

On the 27th of June, three days before Mr. Cisco's resigna- 
tion was to take effect, after Mr. Stewart had declined the office, 
and Mr. Chase had determined to offer it to Mr. Field, he called 
upon Mr. Morgan to confer with him about it. Mr. Morgan 
made no Objection to Mr. Field ; but said that the chairman of a 
Republican committee in New York had called upon him quite 
indignant about the political complexion of Mr, Cisco's office, and 
had insisted that it must be reformed. The Senator produced 
a list of all the officers and clerks in the office with letters set op- 
posite the name of each, indicating the party affiliation of the per- 
son bearing it. Mr. Chase told Mr. Morgan that he did not sup- 
pose any considerable nmnber of the persons in Mr. Cisco's office 
were opponents of Mr. Lincoln's Administration, though no doubt 
many of them were Democrats (and a good many on the list were 
marked D.) like Daniel S. Dickinson and John A. Dix. He said 
he could not admit the propriety of making the appointment of 
Assistant Treasurer in New York depend upon mere partisan or 
factional grounds. He was alarmed at the spirit manifested in 
the production of this list ; feeling strongly that if the office was 
to be turned into any thing like a poHtical machine the public in- 
terests would suffer, and his administration would be greatly em- 
barrassed, if not irretrievably damaged. He said a good deal in 
this strain to the Senator ; but the Senator did not seem satisfied 
with Mr. Chase's views, though apparently not very much dis- 
satisfied either. In bringing the interview to a close, and as he 



486 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

was about to leave, Mr. Chase said to Senator Morgan that he 
would consider what he— the Senator— had said, with every dis- 
position to gratify his wishes if consistent with public interests. 
Mr. Chase did consider what the Senator had said, but his mind 
was not changed. That same evening he sent a blank nomina- 
tion of Mr. Field to the President for signature — not doubting 
that the President would promptly sign it. 

The next day, however, the Secretary received a note from 
Mr. Lincoln, expressing his reluctance to nominate Mr. Field, 
because of the persistent opposition of Senator Morgan. Mr. 
Chase replied by a note asking a personal interview ; and after- 
ward, not receiving an answer, by a letter and memorandum pai*- 
ticularly stating his reasons for preferring Mr. Field. To this 
letter the President rejoined, stating the embarrassments to which 
he had been subjected by certain appointments in the 'New York 
Custom-house, and that the appointment of Mr. Field would 
create additional embarrassment of the same sort, unless Senator 
Morgan and those feeling as he did could be brought to concur 
in it. Mr. Chase took this to be a distinct declaration that it 
was necessary to satisfy Senator Morgan and Senator Morgan's 
friends, and it determined him at once to resign. He said he 
could not hold the office of Secretary of the Treasury upon con- 
dition that he should be controlled in the selection of so unpor- 
tant an officer as Assistant Treasurer at New York by anybody 
other than the President, or without his permission to select from 
among loyal and faithful men the fittest man for that place who 
would accept it, and with whom his relations could be as cordial 
and confidential as they had been with Mr. Cisco. In a letter of 
reply to the President, he stated the general rule which, in his 
judgment, ought to govern selections for official trusts ; and 
added that, although Mr. Cisco's temporary withdrawal ' relieved 
the immediate difficulty, he could not but feel that his continu- 
ance in the Treasury was not altogether agreeable to him — the 
President — and was certainly too full of difficulty and embarrass- 
ment, and painful responsibility, to allow a wish on his part to 
retain it. He inclosed his resignation, therefore, and said it 
would be a relief if the President would accept it. This was on 

' In answer to a letter and telegram, Mr. Cisco had consented to remain another 
quarter. 



THE CHIEF- JUSTICESHIP. 487 

the 29tli of June. On the 30tL. the President answered. Of all 
he had said in commendation of Mr. Chase's fidelity and ability, 
he said in that letter, he had nothing to unsay ; but that Mr. 
Chase and himself had reached that point of mutual embarrass- 
ment in their official relations which, it seemed, could not be 
overcome consistently with the pubhc service. He therefore ac- 
cepted the resignation. 

So ended Mr. Chase's career as Secretary of the Treasury. 

.... Mr. Chief-Justice Taney died on the 12th of October 
subsequent to Mr. Chase's resignation. The late Chief-Justice's 
extreme old age and feeble health had, even in his life, led to some 
speculation as to his successor, and the President had signified 
his pui'pose, should a vacancy happen in that oflace durmg his 
term, to fill it by the appointment of Mr. Chase. "When the 
vacancy occurred, however, various circumstances conspired to 
delay an appointment. Chief among these was the pendency of 
the presidential election, and the prompt appearance of rival 
candidates for the office. The most active of these was Associate- 
Justice Swayne, already a member of the court, and the most 
confident was Postmaster-General Blair, who was supported by 
Mr. Seward. Mr. Chase had in the Cabinet two faithful friends, 
Mr. Stanton and Mr. Fessenden ; and outside of the Cabinet, he 
was earnestly befriended by Mr. Sumner and Senator Sherman. 
His nomination was urged by a large majority of the Pepublican 
journals ; and the public senthnent of the country was unmis- 
takably in his favor. But he had vigorous and vindictive 
enemies, and these opposed Mm persistently, and, to all outward 
appearance, with large prospect of success, though the President 
kept silent. On the very" morning of Mr. Chase's nomination, a 
self-appointed deputation of his Ohio enemies waited upon the 
President to protest against it. They could not deny Mr. Chase's 
fitness, nor his fidelity to principles, nor the integrity and purity 
of his character, nor the prevailing public sentiment in his favor ; 
but they sought to inflame the President by producing some let- 
ters of his in which Mr. Lincoln was rather freely criticised. 
The President read them, and with characteristic humor observed, 
that if Mr. Chase had said harsh things about him, he, in his turn, 
had said harsh things about Mr. Chase, which squared the account. 



488 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Mr. Lincoln's estimate of the grandeur of Mr. Chase's services, and 
of the substantial greatness and nobility of his character, was not 
diminished by the estrangement which had arisen between them, 
for in the very heat of it he had said : " Of all the great men 1 
have ever known, Chase is equal to about one and a half of the 
best of them." "With his own hand he wrote out the nomina- 
tion, and sent it to the Senate with a profound sense of the pro- 
priety and fitness of the act. This was on the 6th of December, 
1864. The Senate confirmed the nomination without a reference. 
Mr. Chase arrived in Washington in the evening of that same 
day, and Mrs. Sprague had the happiness first to salute her father 
with the august title of Chief -Justice. Mr. Chase believed the 
attainment of this office to be the summit of his ambition, and 
before sleeping wrote the President a note of gi-atef ul thanks, 
declaring, however, that more than office he prized the Presi- 
dent's friendship and good-will. 



CHAPTEK XLYI. 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

" "Wasdington, December 20, 1862. 
"...."]" RESIGN tlie office of Secretary of the Treasury, which I have 
-i- had the honor to hold under your appomtment. 
" Whatever service my successor may desire of me, in making him ac- 
quainted with the condition and operations of the department, will be most 
cheerfully rendered. ..." 

Tlie President to Mr. Chase. 

'■'■December 20, 1862. 

" Hon. Secretary of the Treasury : Please do not go out of town. 

The President to Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase. 

"ExEctmvE Mansion, Washinqtok, December 20, 1862. 
" . . . . You have respectively tendered me your resignations as Secre- 
tary of State and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. I am 
apprised of the circumstances which may render this course personally 
desirable to each of you ; but after most anxious consideration, my delib- 
erate judgment is that the public interest does not admit of it. I have 
therefore to request that you will resume the duties of your respective de- 
partments. ..." 

Mr. Seward to Mr. Chase. 

"Washington, December 21, 1863. 
" .... I have this morning sent to the President a note of which the 
inclosed is a copy. ..." 

Mr. Seward''s Note to the President. 
"Dkpaetmknt op State, WASHiNaTON, December 21, 1362; Sunday Morning. 
" . ... I have cheerfully resumed the functions of this department, in 
obedience to your command. ..." 



490 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Mr. CJiase to Mr. Seward. ■ 
"CoENiiE E AND Sixth Steeets, Washington, December 21, 1862. 
" .... I have received your note, and also a call from Mr. Nicolay, to 
whom I have promised to send the President an answer to-morrow morning. 
" My reflections strengthen my conviction that being once honorably 
out of the Cabinet, no important public interest now requires my return 
to it. If I yield this judgment, it will be in deference to apprehensions 
which really seem to me to be unfounded. I will sleep on it. . . . " 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

"Washington, December 22, 1862. 

" .... On Saturday afternoon I received your note addressed to Mr. 
Seward and myself, desiring us to resume the charge of our respective de- 
partments. I had just wi-itten you a letter expressing quite another judg- 
ment, and that you may fully understand my sentiments I now send that 
letter to you. 

" Your note of course required me to reconsider my views ; and a further 
reason for reconsideration was next day furnished, in the receipt from Mr. 
Seward of a copy of his reply to a note from you — identical with that sent 
to me — announcing that he had resumed the duties of the State Depart- 
ment. 

" I cannot say that reflection has much, if at all, changed my original 
impression ; but it has led me to the conclusion that I ought in this mat- 
ter to conform my action to your judgment and wishes. 

" I shall therefore resume my post as Secretary of the Treasury ; ready, 
however, at any moment to resign it, if, in your judgment, the success 
of your Administration may be in the slightest degree promoted there- 
by. .. . " 

Mr. Chase to the President. — Copy of Letter alluded to in the Foregoing Note. 

"Washington, December 20, 1862. 

" .... I intended going to Philadelphia this afternoon, but shall of 
course observe your direction not to go out of town. 

" Will you allow me to say that something you said or looked, when I 
handed you my resignation this morning, made on my mind the impres- 
sion that having received the resignations both of Governor Seward and 
myself, you felt that you could relieve yourself from trouble by declining 
to accept either, and that this feeling was one of gratification ? 

" Let me assure you that few things could give me so much satisfac- 
tion as to promote, in any way, your comfort, especially if I might pro- 
mote at the same time the success of your Administration, and the good 
of the country which is so near your heart. 

" But I am very far from desiring you to decline accepting my resigna- 
tion ; very far from thinking, indeed, that its non-acceptance and my 



THE CASE OF MARK HOWARD. 491 

continuance in tlie Treasury Department will be nniost for your comfort or 
for the benefit of tbe country. 

" On tbe contrary, I could not if I would, conceal from myself that 
recent events have too rudely jostled tbe unity of your Cabinet, and dis- 
closed an opinion too deeply seated, and too generally received in Con- 
gress and in the country, to be safely disregarded, that the concord in 
judgment and action, essential to successful administration, does not pre- 
vail among its members. 

" By some, the embarrassment of administration is attributed to me ; 
by others to Mr. Seward ; by others still to other heads of departments. 
Now, neither Mr. Seward nor myself is essential to you or to the country. 
We both earnestly wish to be relieved from the oppressive charge of our 
respective departments, and we have both placed our resignations in yoiir 
hands. 

" A resignation is a grave act ; never performed by a right-minded 
man without forethought or with reserve. I tendered mine from a sense 
of duty to the country, to you, and to myself; and I tendered it to be ac- 
cepted. So did, as you have been fully assured, Mr. Seward tender his. 

" I trust, therefore, that you will regard yourself as completely relieved 
from all personal considerations. It is my honest conviction that we can 
both better serve you and the country at this time as private citizens than 
in your Cabinet. 

" Retiring from the post to which you called me, let me assure you that 
I shall carry with me even a deeper respect and a warmer affection for you 
than I brought with me into it. . . . " 

Mvi Chase to the President. 

"Washinqton, February 27, 1863. 

" .... I learned to-day at the Senate-Chamber that the nomination 
of Mark Howard, to be collector of internal revenue for the First District 
of Connecticut, was rejected by that body, 

" It is due to Mr. Howard to say that a no more faithful, caj)able, or 
honest man, has been appointed to any collectorship under the law ; and 
that he has performed the responsible duties of the office to the .entire 
satisfaction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue and myself. 

" I am told by Senators that Mr. Howard's nomination was rejected at 
the instance of Senator Dixon, and merely in deference to his personal 
wishes, notwithstanding the unanimous report of the Committee on Finance 
in favor of confirmation, and without the slightest impeachment of the 
character or capacity of the nominee. 

*' Such, I have no doubt, is the fact; and I feel bound by my duty to 
an honest man, to your Administration, and to the public interests placed 
under my charge in this department, to protest, most respectfully, against 
the appointmeut to the vacancy created by this rejection, of any person 
recommended by the gentleman who procured it. Such an apppointment 



492 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

would, indeed, manifestly tend to the grossest abuses ; for if gentlemen 
hostile to a particular nominee, or eager to secure his place for some fa- 
vorite, can expect to control the appointment, after rejection, it is mani- 
fest that confirmations will depend less on merit than on animosity or 
favoritism. 

" In my judgment, Mr. Howard should be renominated in order that 
the Senate may have an opportunity to reconsider its action, calmly and 
dispassionately. His renomination, under the circumstances, seems to me 
a simple act of justice to him, and a proper assertion of your own right to 
have your nominations considered on their merits. 

" I, therefore, send a renomination for your consideration, and your 
signature, if approved. 

" Should your judgment differ from mine on this point, I shall ask per- 
mission to recommend some other person, selected on the same considera- 
tions which governed my original recommendation of Mr. Howard, name- 
ly, capacity, integrity, and fidelity to the country and- to your Adminis- 
tration. ..." 

The President to Mr. CTiase. 

"Washtngton, March 2, 1863. 
" . . . . After much reflection, and with a good deal of pain that it is 
adverse to your wish, I have concluded that it is best not to renominate 
Mr. Howard for collector of internal revenue at Hartford. Senator Dixon, 
residing at Hartford, and Mr. Loomis, the representative of the district, 
join in recommending Edward Goodman for the place,, and so far no one 
has presented a different name. I will thank you, therefore, to send me 
a nomination at once for Mr. Goodman. ..." 

Mr. Chase to the President, hit not sent, 

"Washington, March 8, 1863. 
". . . . Finding myself unable to approve the manner in which selec- 
tions for appointment to important trusts in this department have been 
recently made, and being unwilling to remain responsible for its adminis- 
tration, under existing circumstances, I respectfully resign the ofllce of 
Secretary of the Treasury. ..." 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

" Washington, May 11, 1863. 

". . . . Some weeks ago you verbally directed me to investigate the 
papers connected with the case of collector of the Puget Sound district, 
and to report the result to you. 

"Almost immediately afterward, important business of ray department 
called me to the Eastern cities. On leaving, I dkected the Assistant 
Secretary to examine all the papers, arrange them in i^roper order, and 
make a brief of the contents, so that, on my return, I could at once make 
the investigation you required. 



CASE OF VICTOR SMITH. 493 

" I came back on Friday night (8th), and was informed by the 
Assistant Secretary that you had already directed him to make out and 
send to you a commission for a new collector. 

" This information surprised and greatly pained me ; for I had not 
thought it possible that you would remove an officer of my department 
without awaiting the result, although somewhat delayed, of an investi- 
gation, directed by yourself, and appoint a successor, for whose action I 
must be largely responsible, without even consulting me on the subject. 

"To-day, I have received your note, stating that the person for whom, 
in my absence, a commission was prepared, is deceased ; and directing one 
to be made out for another j^erson of whom I know absolutely nothing. 

" It has been and is my ardent desire to serve you, by faithful service 
to the country, in the responsible post to which you have called me ; but I 
cannot hope to succeed in doing so if the selection of persons to fill 
subordinate places in the department is to be made, not only without my 
concurrence, but without my knowledge. 

" I can ask, of course, nothing more than conference. The right of 
appointment belongs to you ; and if, after fair consideration of my views, 
in any case, your judgment in relation to a proper selection differs from 
mine, it is my duty to acquiesce cheerfully in your determination; unless, 
indeed, the case be one of such a character as to justify my withdrawal 
from my post. I have, however, a right to be consulted. That right was 
virtually conceded to me when you invited me to assume the charge of 
the department, and make myself responsible for its administration. 

" The blank commission which you direct me to send you is inclosed ; 
for to obey your directions, so long as I shall hold office under you, is my 
duty. It is inclosed, however, with my most respectful protest against 
the precedent, and with the assurance that if you find any thing in my 
views to which your own sense of duty will not permit you to assent, I 
will unhesitatingly relieve you from all embarrassment, as far as I am 
concerned, by tendering you my resignation. . . . " ^ 

' This letter to Mr. Lincoln grew out of the case of Victor Smith, who had been 
appointed collector for the district of Puget Sound upon Mr. Chase's own responsi- 
bility; Smith being an old Ohio acquaintance of perfectly good character. The 
office was of considerable importance ; but Victor Smith was a man not very likely 
to become popular on the Pacific coast — or anywhere else. He believed in spirit- 
rappings, and was an avowed abolitionist ; he whined a great deal about " progress," 
was somewhat arrogant in manner and intolerant in speech ; and speedily made 
himself thoroughly unpopular in his office. Grave charges were alleged against 
him, but they were not sustained ; and a deputation of citizens came all the way 
from Puget's Sound to Washington to secure his removal, and spent more money in 
coming and going than the office was worth. Smith told his side of the story ; the 
Secretary believed him, and convinced that to make the removal would work injury 
to the public service and wrong to an innocent man, resolved to stand by him even 
to the point of relinquishing office. During Mr. Chase's temporary absence from 
Washington the President appointed Henry Clay Wilson collector in Smith's place, 



494 LIFE OF SALMON POKTLAND CHASE. 

Mr. Chase to Daniel 8. DicMnson, of JVew TorTc. 

"Washington, November 18, 1S63. 

" . . . . There is to be a convention of War Democrats at Chicago on 
the 25th. I hope you will be there. I think it of great importance that 
you should be. 

" Connected as my name is more or less with the next canvass, it may 
seem not exactly proper for me to oflfer any suggestions ; but as I prize the 
success of principles and the permanence of organization on principles far 
more highly than any thing personal to myself, I shall write you freely, 
trusting to your friendly sentiments for right construction. 

" Democracy is founded on the rights of men, and cannot deny rights 
to any without inconsistency and loss. Why not declare this ? 

" Why not declare what all believe, that the most exact and intense 
negative of democracy is slavery ? 

" Why not say in so many words that Democracy, having imposed 
limits on itself by the national Constitution, was faithful and remains 
faithful to its obligations ; but that slaveholders having made war on the 
country, and having forced the State governments controlled by them 
into rebellion, slavery ceased to be entitled, in rebel States, to the benefits 
of those obligations, and was properly abolished by the proclamation ? 

" Why not add that no man is entitled to the name of loyal in rebel 
States who does not explicitly recognize and sincerely accept the freedom 
of the laborers and their right to wages for work ? 

"Having thus defined unconditional loyalty, why not insist on recog- 
nizing the unconditionally loyal people of each rebel State, and on support- 
ing them in their efibrts to reorganize their State governments on the basis 
of slavery prohibition and due provision against future secession ? 

" Why not avow active sympathy with the unconditional Union men 
everywhere, and invite all to rally on this genuine Democratic ground ? 

" I verily believe that in this way the future may be secured by the 
regeneration of the Democracy, I doubt all other ways. But regenera- 
tion implies renewed faith in fundamental principles and their fearless 
avowal. ..." 

To ex- Governor William Sprague. 

" Washington, November 26, 1863. 
" .... If I were controlled by merely personal sentiments, I should 
prefer the reelection of Mr. Lincoln to that of any other man. But I doubt 
the expediency of reelecting anybody, and I think a man of diflTerent 
qualities from those the President has will be needed for the next four 
years. I am not anxious to be regarded as that man ; and I am quite 
willing to leave that question to the decision of those who agree in think- 
ing that some such man should be chosen. 

but Henry Clay Wilson was dead at the time his appointment was made, and Mr. 
Lincoln thereupon appointed another Wilson. This proceeding roused Mr. Chase's 
anger, and he sent the letter printed in the text. 



THE PRESIDENCY IN 1864. 495 

" I can never permit myself to be driven into any hostile or unfriendly 
position as to Mr, Lincoln. His course toward me has always been so 
fair and kind ; his progress toward entire agreement with me on the 
great question of slavery has been so constant, though rather slower than 
I wished for, and his general character is so marked by traits which com- 
mand respect and affection, that I can never consent to any thing which he 
himself could or would consider as incompatible with perfect honor and 
good faith, if I were capable — which I hope I am not — of a departure 
from either, even where an enemy might be concerned. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Hiram Barney. 

"Washington, December 1, 1863. 

" . . . . Kay wishes you may come and so do I, though by no means 
certain it is of much consequence you should. 

*' The President will make many important recommendations in his 
message, which I am afraid he will injure by too much specification and 
detail. Possibly you may be of use to the country and to the President, 
by coming. ..." 

Mr. Chase to E. A. Spenc^r^ Madison, Wis. 

"Washington, December 4, 1863. 

*'....! have not the slightest wish to press any claims upon the 
consideration of friends or the public. There is certainly a purpose, 
however, to use my name, and I do not feel bound to object to it On the 
contrary, were the post in which these friends desire to place me as low as 
it is high, I should feel bound to render in it all the service possible to our 
common country. ..." 

To William Orton, Esq., of New Tori;. 

"Washington, December 18, 1863. 
" . . . . The only thiiig out of place in your letter is your quasi-a^ologj 
for freedom in writing. 

" I have never doubted Mr. Barney's integrity or his personal friend- 
ship. I have known him more than twenty years ; and to lose faith in 
him would be like a wrench j&om old moorings. ..." 

The President to Mr. Chase. 

" Washington, January 11, 1864. 
" .... I am receiving letters and dispatches indicating an expectation 
that Mr. Barney is to leave the custom-house at New York. Have you 
anything on the subject? ..." 

Mr. Cliase to the President. 

"Washington, January 13, 1864. 
". . . . I am to-day fifty-six years old. I have never consciously and 
deliberately injured one fellow-man. It is too late for me to begin by 



496 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sacrificing to clamor the reputation of a man whom I have known for 
more than twenty years, and whose repute for honesty has been all that 
time unsullied. I shall not recommend the removal of Mr. Barney, except 
upon such show of misconduct, or incapacity, as makes it my duty to do 
so. In such a case I shall not shrink from my duty. 

" I pretend no indiiference to the consequences, personal to myself, 
which you refer to as likely to follow this avowal on my part. But the 
approval of my own conscience is dearer to me than political position, and 
I shall cheerfully sacrifice the latter to preserve the former. 

" Some days since you sent me a note in relation to a biographical sketch 
to be printed in a Philadelphia periodical. It was a matter in which I 
had no concern. If anybody wants my autograph, and I have time, I give 
it ; if anybody wants t^ take my daguerreotype or photograph, and I have 
time, I sit for it ; if anybody wants to tcike my life^ in the way of a bio- 
graphical sketch, / let him take it, and if I have time give such information 
as is wanted, that he may take it the more readily. Some friends wanted 
such a sketch prepared, and engaged a gentleman to prepare it. The pub- 
lisher of the American Exchange and Review — a respectable periodical, by- 
the-way, I am told — was about to print a series of such sketches, and pro- 
posed to begin with one of me. How could I object ? He asked for 
subscriptions, and obtained them. How could I control or supervise that ? 
I was very busy with the affairs of my department, and had no time to 
look after such matters, even had I been aware of what was being done. 
If I had been consulted, I should certainly have objected to any subscrip- 
tion by Mr. Jay Cooke or his brother, except such a moderate one as any 
friend might have made. Not that any wrong was intended or done ; but 
because the act was subject to misconstruction, and there are so many 
ready to misconstrue. Mr. Jay Cooke is a friend, and though he did not 
subscribe to the sketch, he doubtless sanctioned the subscription of his 
brother Henry, who is also a friend (and the son of a triend), whose friend- 
ship was formed when I was powerless to bestow favors. Neither of the 
brothers, nor the father, has ever received at my hands since I have had 
some power, any favor which they have not earned by strenuous and 
untiring labors for the public interest ; nor any which my worst enemy 
would not have received as freely had he rendered the same services. 
What Mr. H. D. Cooke did about the unfortunate biography was done of 
his own accord without prompting from me, and his brother's approval 
was given in the same way. . . . 

" You will pardou me if I write as one somewhat moved. It makes me 
hate public life when I realize how powerless are the most faithful labors 
and the most upriglit conduct to protect any man from carping envy or 
malignant denunciations ; and how little he can expect even from the best 
and most inteligent when such noises prevail. It is almost equally pain- 
ful to think how little friends are disposed to bear with mistakes and inad- 
vertences of other friends, and how ready to make me responsible for 
theirs as well as my own. ..." 






THE PRESIDENCY IN 1864. 497 

To James C, Hal\ Esc[.^ Toledo, Ohio. 

"Washington, Ja/nuary 18, 1864. 
Your kind note is just received. As it has been so long on the 
way I have telegraphed you that I will reply by mail. 

" At the instance of many who think that the public interests would be 
promoted by my election to the chief magistracy, a committee, composed 
of prominent Senators and Representatives and citizens, has been organized 
here for taking measures to promote that object. 

" This committee, though a sub-committee, has conferred with me, and 
I have explained to them the objections which seemed to me to exist 
against any use of my name in that connection. They have taken these 
objections into consideration, and assure me that they think I ought not 
to refuse its use ; and I have consented to their wishes, assuring them, 
however, that whenever any consideration, either by them or by the friends 
of the cause, thought entitled to weight, should indicate the expediency of 
any other course, no consideration of personal delicacy should be allowed 
to prevent its being taken. 

" If I know my own heart, I desire nothing so much as the suppression 
of this rebellion and the reestablishment of union, order, and prosperity, 
on sure and safe foundations ; and I should despise myself if I felt capable 
of allowing any personal objects to influence me to any action which 
would affect, by one jot or tittle, injuriously, the accomplishment of those 
objects. And it is a source of real gratification to believe that those who 
desire my nomination, desire it on public grounds alone, and will not hesi- 
tate, in any matter which may concern me, to act upon such grounds and 
on such grounds only. 

" Of course, under these circumstances, I desire the support of Ohio. 
If, however, it shall be the jileasure of a majority of our friends in Ohio to 
indicate a preference for another, I shall accept their action with that cheer- 
ful acquiescence which is due from me to friends who have trusted and 
honored me beyond any claim or merit of mine." 

Mr. Chase to Jacob Heaton, Esq. ^ 

" Washington, January 28, 1864. 
" .... I return Sir. Bachelor's letter. I should despise myself if I 
felt capable of appointing or removing a man for the sake of the presiden- 
cy. Captain Grace has been retained because I have been assured by 
many reliable political fi'iends that he discharged his duties faithfully and 
well, and because there was no proof that he was hostile to the Govern- 
ment. I was at one time strongly inclined to remove him because of 
allegations that he especially consorted and sympathized with the men 
who obstruct, to the best of their ability, the prosecution of the war, and 
I have not yet absolutely determined what shall be done. When I act I 
shall act upon public considerations, not personal. 

"I have never sought to manage newspapers. If they have supported 
32 



498 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

me I have been glad of it, and grateful. If tbey have opposed, it has 
been their own matter, and I have let them take their course. I have 
never undertaken and never shall undertake, to manipulate the press. . . . 
" So far as the j)residency is concerned, I must leave that wholly to the 
peoT)le. Those of them who think that the public good will be promoted 
by adherence to the one-term priuciiDle, and by the use of my name, are 
fully competent, and far more competent than I am, to bring the matter 
before the public generally ; and the people will dispose of the case ac- 
cording to their own judgment. Whatever disposition they make of it, I 
shall be content. My time is wholly absorbed by my public duties ; and 
I can best serve tile public, and my friends too, by the faithful discharge 
of them. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Flamen Ball, Esq., Cincinnati. 

"Washington, February 2, 1864. 

" . . . . You ask for the signs of the times. At present they seem to ' 
indicate the renomination of Mr. Lincoln. His personal popularity is 
great and deserved. If to his kindliness of spirit and good sense he joined 
strong will and energetic action, there would be little left to wish for in 
him. As it is, I think that he will be likely to close his first term with 
more glory than he will the second, should he be reelected. . . . 

" Of course, if my name is to be brought forward at all, I shall be glad 
to have Ohio decidedly on my side. Indeed, if Ohio should express a 
preference for any other person, I would not allow my name to be used. 

" I shall be entirely content to retire, as soon as the condition of the 
finances will permit, to a private station, and hope their condition wUl 
permit it before the lapse of many months. ..." 

The President to Mr. Chase. 

" Washington, February 12, 1S64. 
" .... I have felt considerable anxiety concerning the custom-house 
at New York. Mr. Barney has suffered no abatement of my confidence in 
his honor and integrity ; and yet I am convinced that he has ceased to be 
master of his position. A man by the name of Bailey,* whom I am 
unconscious of ever having seen, or even having heard of except in this 
connection, expects to be, and even now assumes to be, collector de facto^ 
while ]\Ir. Barney remains nominally so. This Mr. Bailey, as I understand, 
having been summoned as a witness to testify before a committee of the 
House of Representatives, which purposed investigating the New York 

* Mr. J. F. Bailey was a special agent of the Treasury Department, assigned to 
duty in connection with the operations of the New York Custom-House. Before 
that time he had been a clerk in the office of the Secretary of the Treasury. He was 
a man of great industry and energy, of admitted abiUty, and of unimpeached per- 
sonal character until a much later period. He was responsibly indorsed ; among 
others by Senator Fessenden. He was full of ambition, and ought to have risen 
to an honorable eminence. 



"THE FOMEROY CIRCULAR." 499 

Custom-House, took occasion to call on the chairman in advance, and to 
endeavor to smother the investigation, by saying, among other things, that 
whatever might be developed, the President would take no action, and 
that the committee would thereby be placed unpleasantly. The public 
interest cannot fail to suiFer in the hands of this irresponsible and 
unscrvipulous man. I propose sending Mr. Barney minister to Portugal, 
as evidence of my continued confidence in him. I wrote the draft of this 
letter two weeks ago, but delayed sending it for a reason which I will 
state when I see you. ..." 

" The Pomeroy Circular.'''' 

[" CONFIDENTIAL."] 

"Washington, February, 1864. 

". . . . The movements recently made throughout the country, to 
secure the renomination of President Lincoln, render necessary counter- 
action on the part of those unconditional friends of the Union who differ 
from the policy of the Administration. 

" So long as no efibrts were made to forestall the political action of the 
people, it was both wise and patriotic for all true friends of the Govern- 
ment to devote their influence to the suppression of the rebellion ; but 
when it becomes evident that party and the machinery of official influence 
are being used to secure the perpetuation of the present Administration, 
those who conscientiously believe that the interests of the country and of 
freedom demand a change in favor of vigor and purity and nationality, 
have no choice but to appeal at once to the people before it is too late to 
secure a fair discussion of principles. Those in behalf of whom this appeal 
is made have thoughtfully surveyed the political field, and have arrived 
at the following conclusions : 

" 1. That even were the reelection of Mr. Lincoln desirable, it is prac- 
tically impossible against the union of influences which will oppose him. 

" 2. That should he be reelected, his manifest tendency toward com- 
promises and temporary expedients of policy will become stronger during 
a second term than it has been in the first, and the cause of human liberty, 
and the dignity of the nation suflTer proportionately, whUe the war may 
continue to languish during his whole Administration, till the public debt 
shall become a burden too great to be borne. 

" 3. That the patronage of the Government through the necessities of 
the war has been so rapidly increased, and to such an enormous extent, 
and so loosely placed, as to render the application of the one-term prin- 
ciple absolutely essential to the certain safety of our republican institutions. 

" 4. That we find united in Hon. Salmon P. Chase more of the qualities 
needed in a President, during the next four years, than are combined in 
any other available candidate. His record is clear and unimpeachable, 
showing him to be a statesman of rare ability, and an administrator of 
the highest order, while his private character furnishes the surest available 
guarantee of economy and purity in the management of public afiairs. 



500 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

"5. That the discussion of the presidential question already ccmmenced 
by the friends of Mr. Lincoln, has developed a popularity and strength in 
Mr. Chase unexpected even to his warmest admirers, and while we are 
aware that its strength is at present unorganized, and in no condition to 
manifest its real magnitude, we are satisfied that it only needs a systematic 
and faithful efibrt to develop it to an extent sufficient to overcome aU 
opposing obstacles. For these reasons the friends of Mr. Chase have 
determined on measures which shall present his claims fairly and at once 
to the country. A central organization has been effected, which already 
has its connections in all the States, and the object of which is to enable 
his friends eveiywhere most effectually to promote his elevation to the 
presidency. We wish the hearty cooperation of all those who are in favor 
of the speedy restoration of the Union on the basis of universal freedom, 
and who desire an administration of the Government during the first 
period of its new life, which shall to the fullest extent develop the capacity 
of free institutions, enlarge the resources of the country, diminish the bur- 
dens of taxation, elevate the standard of public and private morality, vin- 
dicate the honor of the republic before the world, and in all things make 
our American nationality the fairest example for imitation which human 
progress has ever achieved. If these objects meet your approval, you can 
render efficient aid by exerting yourself at once to organize your section 
of the country, and by corresponding with the chairman of the National 
Executive Committee, for the purpose either of receiving or imparting 
information. ..." 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

" "Washinqton, February 22, 1864. 

" .... It is probable you have already seen a letter printed in the 
Constitutional Union on Saturday afternoon, and reprinted in the In- 
telligencer this morning, written by Senator Pomeroy,' as chairman of a 
committee of my political friends. I had no knowledge of the existence 
of this letter before I saw it in the Union. 

" A few weeks ago, several gentlemen called on me and expressed their 
desire, which, they said, was shared by many earnest friends of our com- 
mon cause, that I would allow my name to be submitted to the consideration 
of the people, in connection with the approaching election for Chiet 
Magistrate. I replied that I feared such use might impair my usefulness 
as head of the Treasury Department, and that I.much preferred to continue 
my labors where I am, and free from disturbing influences, until I could 
honorably retire from them. We had several interviews. After con- 
sultation and conference with others, they expressed their united judgment 
that the use of my name. as proposed would not affect my usefulness in my 
present position; and that I ought to consent to it. I accepted their- 
judgment as decisive ; but at the same time told them, distinctly, that I 

* Mr. Chase was mistaken ; this circular was not written by Mr. Pomeroy, but by 
Mr. J. M. Winchell. Mr. Pomeroy signed it as chairman of the committee. 



THE PRESIDENT AND MR. CHASE. 501 

could render them no help, except what might come incidentally from the 
faithful discharge of public duties ; for these must have my whole time. 
I said also that I desired them to regard themselves as not only entirely at 
liberty, but as requested, to withdraw my name from consideration, when- 
ever in their judgment the public interest would be promoted by so 
doing. 

" The organization of the committee, I presume, followed these conver- 
sations ; but I was not consulted about it, nor have I been consulted as to 
its action ; nor do I even know who composed it, I have never wished 
that my name should have a moment's thought in comparison with the 
common cause of enfranchisement and restoration, or be continued before 
the public a moment after the indication of a preference, by the friends of 
that cause, for another, 

" I have thought this explanation due to you as well as to myself. If 
there is any thing in my action or position which, in your judgment, will 
prejudice the public interest under my charge, I teg you to say so, I do 
not wish to administer the Treasury Department one day without your 
entire confidence. For yourself I cherish sincere respect and esteem ; and, 
permit me to add, affection. Differences of opinion as to administrative 
action have not changed these sentiments ; nor have they been changed 
by assaults upon me by persons who profess themselves the special repre- 
sentatives of your views and policy. You are not responsible for acts not 
your own ; nor will you hold me responsible except for what I do or say 
myself. 

" Great numbers now desire your reelection. Should their wishes be 
fulfilled by the suffrages of the people, I hope to carry with me into pri- 
vate life the sentiments I now cherish, whole and unimpaired, ..." 

The President to Mr. Chase. 

"Washington, February 23, 1S64. 

" . . . . Tours of yesterday in relation to the j)aper issued by Senator 
Pomeroy was duly received ; and I write this note merely to say I will 
answer a little more fully when I can find time to do so, . . . " 

The President to Mr. Chase — again. 

" WAsmNQTON, February 29, 18&i. 
" .... I would have taken time to answer yours of the 22d sooner, 
only that I did not suppose any evil could result from the delay, especially 
as, by a note, I promptly acknowledged the receipt of yours, and promised 
a fuller answer. Now, on consideration, I find there is really very little 
to say. My knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's letter having been made public 
came to me only the day you wrote ; but I had, in spite of myself, known 
of its existence several days before, I have not yet read it, and I think I 
shall not, I was not shocked or surprised by the appearance of the letter, 
because I had had knowledge of Mr. Pomeroy's committee, and of secret 



502 ■ LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

issues which, I supposed, came from it, and of secret agents who, I sup- 
posed, were sent out by it, for seyeral weeks. I have known just as little 
of these thiogs as my friends have allowed me to know. They bring the 
documents to me, but I do not read them ; they tell me what they think 
fit to tell me, but I do not inquire for more. 

" I fully concur with you that neither of us can be justly held respon- 
sible for what our respective friends may do without our instigation or 
countenance ; and I assure you, as you have assured me, that no assault 
has been made upon you by my instigation, or with my countenance. 

" Whether you shall remain at the head of the Treasury Department is 
a question which I do not allow myself to consider from any stand-point 
other than my judgment of the public service; and, in that view, I do not 
perceive occasion for a change. ..." 

Extract from Albert M. Palmer's Testimony before tTie Congressional Com- 
mittee: taken at Fort Lafayette^ March 19, 1864. 

Question by the chairman of the Committee : " In the oath I adminis- 
tered to you, you are aware I required you to tell whatever you knew 
with reference to any frauds or improprieties in the New York Custom- 
House. Have you any knowledge of frauds committed, or money improp- 
erly paid in the shape of bribes or presents, in any department of the cus- 
tom-house 1 If you have any such information and can give the facts and 
names, it certainly cannot prejudice you^ but it may help us in correcting 
abuses that do exist." 

Palmer's answer.: " So far as I am concerned, nothing can prejudice 
me. I am just as bad off as I possibly can be ; a prisoner in Fort Lafay- 
ette, disgraced and despised ; and if I have no dread of any thing in the 
future, I have no inducement to conceal any thing from you. I have en- 
dured as much suffering and undergone as much misery as any man could 
wish or expect one to know. I do not fear any thing in the future, and I 
have no motive to conceal any thing from you, and I do not think there 
is any necessity for the recommendation of that to me, tliat nothing can 
prejudice me, because I have no fear of being 2)rejudiced by any thing. I say, 
solemnly, that I know nothing more than I have told you." 

Mr. Chase to James C. nail, Esq., Toledo. 

"Washington, March 5, 1864. 

" .... In reply to a friendly letter from you, I wrote you briefly not 
long ago, about the wishes expressed by many, that my name might be 
favorably regarded by the people in their next choice of a President ; and 
closed by saying that, should our friends in Ohio manifest a preference for 
another, I should accept their decision with the ready acquiescence due 
from one who has been already trusted and honored by them beyond merit 
or expectation. 

" The recent action of the Union members of our Legislature indicates 



THE BLAIR ASSAULT. 503 

such a preference. It becomes my duty, therefore — and I count it more a 
privilege than a duty — to ask that no further consideration be given to my 
name. 

" It was never more important than now that all our efforts and all our 
energies should be devoted to the suppression of the rebellion, and to the 
i-estoration of order and prosperity, on solid and sure foundations of Union, 
Freedom, and Impartial Justice ; and I earnestly urge all with whom my 
counsels may have weight, to allow nothing to divide them, while this 
great work, in comparison with which persons, and even parties, are noth- 
ing, remains unaccomplished. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Mr. Cooke. 

"Washington, May 5, 1S64. 

" .... I hope my wrathiness was not excessive. Indeed, it was vexa- 
tious to think that all my labors to serve our country had found recom- 
pense, so far as Mr. Lincoln's special friends were concerned, and with his 
apparent (but, as I hope and believe, merely apparent) indorsement, only 
in outrageous calumny. I seldom consult personal considerations in my 
public conduct, and so suppressed my inclination to resign my office and 
denounce the conspiracy of which the Blairs are the most visible embodi- 
ments. After returning from Baltimore I conferred with Governor- Brough 
and other friends, who were very earnest in advising against resignation ; 
and I yielded to their judgment, which, indeed, coincided with my own, 
though exceedingly contrary to my impulses. Immediately afterward I 
was obliged to visit Philadelphia, and was absent from Wednesday morn- 
ing until Saturday night. On Monday I learned that the Ohio delegation 
had taken the matter up, and that one of them had called on the Presi- 
dent, who disavowed in the most explicit terms all connection with, or 
responsibility for, Blair's assault, and expressed his decided disapproval 
of it. As this was merely verbal, however, the delegation determined to 
call on the President in a body, and make and present a distinct statement 
in writing — on their part, of their advice and my action, and their convic- 
tions of what was due from the President to me, to Ohio, and to the 
country ; and on his part, such reply as he should see fit to give. 

" Thus the matter now stands. It seems now only simple justice to me, 
that every friend who believes I have done my duty, should, by voice, pen, 
and press, utter the sentiments which this outrageous attack must kindle 
in honest minds, of indignation against the unworthy men who have set on 
foot and propagated these vile calumnies. ..." 

To Hon. L. D. Stickney, of Florida. 

"Washington, May 25, 1864. 
" .... I have read Dr. Ayer's letter with surprise and regret. I do 
not know to whom he alludes as the man likely to be chosen delegate to 
th.e Baltimore Convention being my own selection. Since my letter to 



504 LIfE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Senator Hall, or rather through him to my friends in Ohio and elsewhere, 
was written, I had neither asked, nor thought, nor expected to be nomi- 
nated for President. I would not take the nomination of the Baltimore 
Convention if it were tendered to me. The delegates have been almost all 
elected under pledge, express or implied, that they will vote for the re- 
nomination of Mr. Lincoln. The nomination of any other man would be 
justly regarded as a fraud upon the people; and I value conscious in- 
tegrity of purpose far more than office, even the highest. I have had 
nothing to do with the election of delegates to Baltimore — not one is a 
selection of mine in any sense — ^but if there were such a man I should say 
to him : ' Respect honestly the wishes of the people who sent you ; avoid es- 
pecially the very appearance of management to substitute any man for the 
man whom they prefer.' 

" If the Baltimore Convention is itself a mistake, the error cannot be 
rectified by any attemjjt to thwart through its members the expectations 
of their constituents. ..." 

To Aaron F. Perry, Esq., Cincinnati. 

" Washington, May 2T, 1864. 

" A letter has been shown me in which you are reported as blaming me 
for sending General Garfield secretly to Mr. Stanton to ask him to use his 
official patronage to promote my nomination for the presidency. It is 
also stated that a report that I did send the General to the Secretary for 
that purpose is quite current in Cincuinati. 

"It humbles me to notice such a report; but if it can obtain credence 
with such gentlemen as yourself, may it not be a duty to do so ? 

" There is not a word of truth in it. Neither secretly nor openly, nei- 
ther through General Garfield nor any other person, neither directly nor 
indirectly, did I ever suggest to Mr. Stanton or any head of department, 
or to any other officer of the Government, a wish for the use of official 
patronage in my behalf 

" Why I should be thus incessantly pursued with calumny I do not un- 
derstand. I am in nobody's way, unless perhaps in the way of some who 
would like to make money out of the distresses of the country. There 
were some citizens who wished that I might be President, and they were 
men of whose preference any man might be proud ; but when I saw that 
the use of my name was likely to create strife and divisions injurious to 
our common cause, and that some even in high places were willing that the 
finances of the country, on which every thing depends, should be embar- 
rassed and damaged, if by that means I might be damaged, I gladly 
availed myself of the action of the Union members of the Ohio Legislature 
to ask that my name no longer be considered in connection with the nom- 
ination. I thought I was acting an honest and patriotic part. Since 
writing the letter taking my name out of the list of candidates for the 
nomination, I have neither sought, nor asked, nor expected it. I have 



NEW YORK SUB-TREASURY. 505 

been working liard to raise the means to pay and clothe and feed the sol- 
diers and sailors of the Army and Navy, and to defi-ay the costs of their 
great movements. My only ambition has been to contribute what I could 
in my place to the safety of the republic and to promote the interests of 
the whole people, and especially of the laboring masses, by the perma- 
nent establishment of a sound and uniform national currency." 

To Son. William S. Seward. 

*' Washikgton, May 80, 18C4. 

" . . . . What you said about the Albany Evening Journal the other 
day induces me to send you its most prominent article of May 24th, 
which has been inclosed to me. 

" So far as its allegations concern me personally, they are utterly with- 
out warrant. In the sense intended by the words, I have never been a 
presidential aspirant. Since my letter to Senator Hall, or rather, through 
Mm to my friends in Ohio, I have avoided all thought and talk about the 
presidential nomination, and have certainly neither asked nor sought nor 
expected it myself. 

" The patronage of this department is not and never has been used 
with reference to that nomination.' All I ask for in any officer is capacity, 
fidelity to trust, and devotion to Union and Liberty. If there are sinecure 
officers in the New York Custom-House, secretly at work to prevent the 
fair expression of the manifest preference of the Union men of the country, 
I do not know it. Every man has a right to be in a minority if he chooses, 
and often must be, or sacrifice his honest convictions ; but no man has a 
right to be a sinecure office-holder or to eugage in secret work to thwart 
the will of a majority of the political organization to which he belongs; 
and no such man shall hold office in this department, or under it, with my 
consent. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Denning Duer^ Esq.^ New YorTc. 

"Washington, Jime 20, 1864. 
" . . . . Will you accept the office of Assistant Treasurer ? . . . 
"Governor Morgan and I have talked this matter over, and have con- 
cluded that your appointment is one fit to be made ; and will both be 
gratified if you think it is one fit to accept. ..." 

Mr. Cluxse to JoTin A. Stewart, Esq., New YorTc. 

" Washington, June 25, 1864 

" . . . . Since receiving your letter of the 10th of June, I have been 
endeavoring to find some successor of Mr. Cisco, equal to the place, and 
possessed of the entire confidence of the public. As yet I have been un- 
successful, and, in conversation with Senator Morgan on the subject, he 
agreed to write you, urging your reconsideration of your declension. I 
have also written to Mr. Cisco expressing my sentiments. Let me urge 



506 I^IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

you to reconsider your conclusion, and let your country in this exigency 
have the benefit of your services. " 



• • 



Mr. CJiase to Mr. Cisco, New Torlc. 

" ■Washixgton, June 26, 1864. 
" . . . . Senator Morgan promised me yesterday, or the day before, that 
he would write to Mr. Stewart, urging him to accept the post of Assistant 
Treasurer, so soon to be vacated by you. I have no doubt that he has done 
so. Please see him immediately, and second Senator Morgan's endeavor. 
I should feel safe with him, and know not with whom else I should feel 
safe, or at least so safe. Let me know the result by telegraph to-morrow, 
that I may be able to act definitely on Monday. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Mr. Cisco — Telegram. 

" Washington, Jvm.6 28, 1864. 
" . . . . Let me urge you respectfully, but earnestly, to withdraw your 
resignation, and give the country the benefit of your services at least another 
quarter longer. Let nothing, except the absolute requirements of your 
health, prevent your consent. 

" To be delivered at ofiice or residence immediately. ..." 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

" Washington, June 23, 1S64. 

". . . . I have telegraped Mr. Cisco, begging him to withdraw his resig- 
nation, and serve at least another quarter. If he declines to do so, I must 
repeat that in my judgment the public interests require the appointment 
of Mr. Field. One of the gentlemen named by Senator Morgan is over 
seventy, and another, I think, over sixty years old ; and neither has any 
practical knowledge of the duties of the office. They are both estimable 
gentlemen, and, were the times peaceful and the business of the office 
comparatively small and regular, I would gladly acquiesce in the appoint- 
ment of either. But my duty to you and to the country does not permit 
it now. I have already, after conference with Senator Morgan, ofi"ered, 
with his concurrence, my recommendation to your consideration of three 
gentlemen, each admirably qualified, but each has declined. I now recom- 
mend Mr. Field, because among those who will take the place, I think 
him best qualified, and only for that reason. But this, especially in these 
times, should be a controlling reason. 

" That you may see I am warranted not only by my personal observa- 
tion, but by the opinions of the best men, in my judgment, I inclose with 
this several papers which have been sent to me. 

" P. S. — As soon as Mr. Cisco's answer comes, I wUl send it to you. If 
he declines, I trust you will act without delay. The office will be without 
a heaa on the first of July, and the bond to be given is ($400,000) four 
hundred thousand dollars. ..." 



F A C - S I M I L E . 



^m/KJi-Jlj^ (ri/ 












lldc^ 



rJjfl^?^:^i^C^f^O 



■:^c/\Fh^' ./UyC^u 







THE SUB-TREASURER'S OFFICE. 5O7 

Memorandum for the President. 

*'.... Mr. Field is recommended by many of the most reliable busi- 
ness men of New Tork, sucli as Jonathan Sturgis, Peter Cooper, Phelps, 
Dodge & Co., as well as by prominent Republicans, such as John A. King, 
Horace Greeley and others. 

" His capacity and integrity are not called in question by anybody. 

" The office cannot be made useful to the Government, and especially 
to the Treasury Department, unless administered with the same disin- 
terested integrity and impartiality with which Mr. Cisco has conducted 
it. Mr. Field does not claim to be the equal of Mr. Cisco in administra- 
tive capacity, but will, I think, endeavor to equal him in fairness and 
honesty of administration. 

"The office should not be controlled by mere party considerations. 
Appointments should doubtless be given to faithful friends of the Govern- 
ment ; but should be made otherwise exclusively on grounds of integrity 
and capacity. Mr. Field is a Republican, and would give proper political 
considerations due weight; but he would not allow them improper in- 
fluence. ..." 

The President to Mr. Chase. 

" Washington, June 28, 1864. 
". . . . Yours, inclosing a blank nomination for Maunsell B. Field, to 
be Assistant Treasurer at New York, was received yesterday. I cannot, 
without much embarrassment, make this appointment, principally because 
of Senator Morgan's very firm opposition to it. Senator Harris has not 
yet spoken to ^me on the subject, though I understand he is not averse to 
the appointment of IMr. Field ; nor yet to any one of the three named by 
Senator Morgan, rather preferring of them, however, Mr. Hillhouse. Gov- 
ernor Morgan tells me he has mentioned the three names to you, to wit : 
R. M. Blatchford, Dudley S. Gregory, and Thomas Hillhouse. It will 
really oblige me if you wUl make choice among those three, or any other 
man that Senators Morgan and Harris will be satisfied with, and send me 
a nomination for him. . . . ■' 

' The President to Mr. Chase — again. 

" Washington, June 28, 1864. 
" . . . . When I received your note this forenoon, suggesting a conversa- 
tion — a verbal conversation — in relation to the appointment of a successor 
to Mr. Cisco, I hesitated, because the difficulty does not, in the main part, 
lie within the range of a conversation between you and me. As the proverb 
goes, 'No man knows so well where the shoe pinches as he who wears it.' 
I do not think Mr. Field a very proper man for the place ; but I would 
trust your judgment, and forego this, were the greater difficulty out of the 
way. Much as I personally like Mr, Barney, it has been a great burden to 
me to retain him in his place, when nearly all our friends in New York 



508 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

were, directly or indirectly, urging liis removal. Then the appointment of 
Hogeboom to be General Appraiser brought me to, and has ever since kept 
me at, the verge of open revolt. Now, the appointment of Mr. Field 
would precipitate it, unless Senator Morgan, and those feeling as he does, 
could be brought to concur in it. Strained as I already am at this point, 
I do not think I can make this appointment in the direction of still greater 
strain. 

"The testimonials of Mr. Field, with your accompanying note, 
were duly received, and I am now waiting to see your answer from Mr. 
Cisco. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Mr. Cisco. 

" "Washington, June 29, 1864. 

" .... I am very grateful for your telegram and letter. It relieves 
me from a very painful embarrassment and from serious apprehensions. 
I could not remain here and see your office made parcel of the machinery of 
party, or even feel serious apprehensions that it might be. The only di'aw- 
back upon my satisfaction comes from my concern for your health, and 
from my anxiety about the condition of public affairs. I pray God that no 
harm may come to you, and that our dear country may soon see brighter 
days. ..." 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

" Washington, June 29, 1S64. 

" .... I have received your note, and have read it with great at- 
tention. I was not aware of the extent of the embarrassment to which 
you refer. In recommendations for office, I have sincerely sought to get 
the best men for the places to be filled without reference to any other 
classification than supporters and opponents of your Administration. Of 
the latter I have recommended none ; among the former I have desired to 
know no distinction except degrees of fitness. 

" The withdrawal of Mr. Cisco's resignation, which I inclose, relieves 
the present difficulty ; but I cannot help feeling that my position here is 
not altogether agreeable to you ; and it is certainly too full of embarrass- 
ment and difficulty and painful responsibility, to allow in me the least 
desire to retain it. 

" I think it my duty, therefore, to inclose to you my resignation. I shall 
regard it as a real relief if you think proper to accept it, and will most 
cheerfully render to my successor any aid he may find useful in entering 
upon his duties. ..." 

The Besignation. 

"Wabhingion, June 29, 1S64. 
" .... I respectfully resign the office of Secretary of the Treasury, 
which I have the honor to hold under your appointment. ..." 



MR. CHASE'S RESIGNATION". 509 

TJie President to Mr. Chase. 

" "Washington, June 29, 18&i. 
". . . . Your resignation of the oflBce of Secretary of the Treasury, sent 
me yesterday, is accepted. Of all I have said in commendation of your 
ability and fidelity, 1 have nothing to unsay ; and yet you and I have 
reached a point of mutual embarrassment in our official relations which, it 
seems to me, cannot be overcome or longer sustained consistently with the 
public service. ..." 

Mr. Cisco to Mr. Chase. 

" New Toek, July 5, 1864. 

" . . . . It is a matter of deep regret to me that my resignation should 
have been the immediate cause of a result so unfortunate to the country. 
I was amazed at the determined attempt to bring my office into the politi- 
cal pool. If this should be accomplished, the usefulness of the office 
would depart, and would bring in its fall consequences disastrous to the 
country. 

" Since I entered this office in 1853, politics have been carefully ex- 
cluded from the administration of its aflfairs, and appointments have been 
influenced solely by considerations of loyalty, integrity, and business quali- 
fications. This principle, adopted at the beginning with the sanction of 
three administrations of the Government, has been faithfully and con- 
scientiously carried out down to the present time. The acknowledged 
success of the office is attributable more to this principle than to any other 
cause, and the man who attempts to administer it upon the view that he 
must consult party interests will find it impracticable and the result a 

failure. ..." 

■ 

Mr. Chase to Mr. Stanton^ Secretary of War. 

" Washincton, June 80, 1864. 

'*.... I felt myself bound yesterday to send my resignation to the 
President. It would have been grateful to me to be able to consult you ; 
but I feared you might be prompted by your generous sentiments to take 
some step injurious to the country. To-day my resignation has been ac- 
cepted ; and, if you have not been informed of it, it is due to you that I 
should give you the information as soon as received by myself. ..." 

Extract from Mr. Chase's Diary, June 30, 1864. 

" Among those who called during the day was Mr. Hooper, who related 
a conversation with the President some days ago, in which the President 
expressed regret that our relations were not more free from embarrass- 
ment, saying that when I came to see him he felt awkward, and that I 
seemed constrained. At the same time he expressed his esteem foi' me, 
and said that he had intended, in case of vacancy in the chief-justiceship, 
to tender it to me, and would now, did a vacancy exist. This, he said, he 
remarked to show his real sentiments toward me ; for he remembered that 



510 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAIfD CHASE. 

not long after he took charge of the Admmistration, I had remarked one 
day that I preferred judicial to administrative office, and would rather, if 
I could, be Chief- Justice of the United States than hold any other position 
that could be given me. Mr. Hooper said he thought this was said to 
him in order to be repeated to me, and that he had sought an opportimity 
of doing so, but had not found one. I said that it was quite possible, had 
any such expressions of good-will reached me, I might, before the present 
difficulty arose, have gone to him and had a fresh understanding, which 
would have prevented it; but I did not see how I could change my posi- 
tion. 

"Indeed, if such were the real feelings of Mr. Lincoln, he would hardly 
have refused a personal interview when I asked it, or required me to con- 
sult local politicians in the choice of an officer whose character and quali- 
fications were so vitally important to the department. Besides, I did not 
see how I could carry on the department without more means than Con- 
gress was likely to supply, and amid the embarrassments created by fac- 
tious hostility within, and both factious and party hostility without the 
department." 

From Mr. Chase's Diary^ July 4, 1864. 

" Mr. Fessenden came in (about nine p. m,). He had been with me in 
the morning, and told me he had received a letter. . . . recommending 
Governor Morgan's special choice for a successor to Mr. Cisco. He ex- 
pressed his intention not to have either of them ; for when it was sought 
to make me choose appointments he had told me that he should call on 
the President, and before acceptance have it distinctly understood that the 
appointment of subordinates in his office, for whom he was to be responsible, 
must be made directly on his own nomination. He now came in to say 
that the President had at once acceded to this, only requiring that, 
should he himself desire any particular appointment made, his wishes in 
that regard should be fully considered. He said, too, that he hoped Mr. 
Fessenden would not, without a real necessity, remove any friends of 
Governor Chase." 

From Mr. Chase's Journal, July 13, 1864. 

" Half of my fifty-seventh year is ended. To-day I leave Washington 
a private citizen. Saw Stanton before leaving ; he was warm and cordial 
aa ever. No other head of a department has called." 

Mr. Chase went to iN'ew England and spent some weeks, and 
then back to Washington, and from Washington to the West ; 
taking an active part in the presidential canvass, and supporting 
the reelection of Mr. Lincoln with great earnestness and ability. 
He made speeches at several places ; notably at Cincinnati. 

In his journal for the 18th of August— being then in Boston— he made 

J 



EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL. 511 

tliis entry : " Fessenden was witli me and expressed his astonishment at 
the immense work of organization I had accomplished in the Treasury 
Department." The journal during this period, shows that there was some 
effort at procuring his restoration to the Treasury ; without his concur- 
rence, however. He got back to Washington on the 14th of September ; 
saw the President twice while there, and made record thus : " Septem- 
ber 17th. I have seen the President twice since I have been liere. Both 
times third persons were present, and there was nothing like private 
conversation. His manner was cordial and so were his words ; and I hear 
of nothing but good-will from him. But he is not at all demonstrative, 
either in speech or manner. I feel that I do not know him, and I found 
no action on what he says or does. ... It is my conviction that the cause 
I love and the general interests of the country will be best promoted by 
his reelection, and I have resolved to join my efforts to those of almost the 
whole body of my Mends in securing it ^ ... I have been told that the 
President said he and I could not get along together in the Cabinet. 
Doubtless there was a difference of temj)erament, and on some points, of 
judgment. I may have been too earnest and eager, while I thought him 
not earnest enough and too slow. On some occasions, indeed, I found 
that it was so. But I never desired any thing else than his complete suc- 
cess, and never indulged a personal feeling incompatible with absolute 
fidelity to his Administration. To assure that success I labored incessantly 
in the Treasury Department, with what results the world knows. When I 
found that the use of my name in connection with the presidency would 
interfere with my usefulness in that department, I seized the opportunity 
offered by the expression, by a majority of the Union members of the Leg- 
islature, of a preference for Mr. Lincoln, to ask that no further consideration 
should be given to my name. After that, I advised all friends who con- 
sulted me, in reference to the action of the Baltimore Convention, to give 
him their support. But it would be uncandid not to say that I felt wronged 
and hurt by the circumstances which preceded and attended my resigna- 
tion, and that I was far from satisfied with the indications that Mr. Lincoln 
sympathized more with those who assailed and disparaged than with those 
who asserted and maintained the views held by me in common with the 
great majority of the supporters of his Administration. I think even now 
there would never have been any difficulty about our getting along to- 

' In a letter to Mr. Schuckers from Narragansett, September 6th, Mr. Chase 
said : " There is little democracy in the party which assumes that name, but much 
hatred of the humblest of God's poor — the colored race — and much subserriency to 
the slaveholding class ; while in the Union party, with a great deal that is far from any 
tolerable standard of either ethics or politics, there is a great deal also of genuine de- 
votion to human rights and noble policy. So you see I tend to the point of burying 
all complaints, whether of injustice to myself — which is of little accoimt — or of de- 
linquencies in respect to the country and to patriotic men, especially loyalists of the 
insurrectionary States, and supporting the choice of the Baltimore Convention, 
awaiting future events as the guide for future action." 



512 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

getlier, could he have understood my sentiments just as they were, and if 
he had allowed me to understand his freely and unreservedly. ..." 

Mr. Chase received news of the death of Chief- Justice Taney at Cincin- 
nati, and a few days later, a letter from Mr. Sumner, dated October 14th, 
in which Mr. Sumner said : " My dkak Chase : I have written to the Presi- 
dent without delay, and urged anew the considerations to which he 
yielded last spring, in favor of your nomination as Chief-Justice. Of 
course you will accept. Tes ! accept, and complete our great reformation 
by purifying the Constitution, and upholding those measures by which the 
republic will be saved. God bless you ! Ever yours, Charles Sumner." 
In reply to this, Mr. Chase on the 19th of October wrote from Cincinnati : 
"My deae Sumner: Your action is like you, generous, earnest, and 
prompt. Whatever the action of the President may be, yours will remain 
a new and grateful bond of endearment of you to me. As yet I have 
heard nothing from Washington of a definite character, or from author- 
ized sources. But what I do hear leads me to think that the President 
remains of the same mind expressed to you last spring, and, as I have 
heard, to others quite recently. ... It is perhaps not exactly en regie to 
say what a man will do in regard to an appointment not tendered to him ; 
but it is certainly not wrong to say to you that I should accept. I feel that 
J can do more for our cause and country in that place than in any other. 
... It is now certain that Mr. Lincoln will be reelected. May his name go 
down to posterity with the two noblest additions historians ever recorded 
— ^Restorer and Liberator ! Faithfully your friend, S. P. Chase." On the 
20th of October, Mr. Fessenden wrote to Mr. Chase : " My dear Sir — I 
think there can be no doubt about your appointment to the chief-justice- 
ship. The President said to me of his own motion, ' I have not forgotten 
our conversation,' but as things were going on well, he thought it best not 
to make any appointment or say any thing about it until the election was 
over. Your friends need give themselves no anxiety, whatever may be 
said by the papers. I believe all is right. — Yours always, W. P. F." On 
the 18th of November, JVIr. Fessenden wrote again: "I congratulate you 
on getting through the campaign so well, winning so many golden opin- 
ions. I have no doubt you will be Chief-Justice, and consider the matter 
so well settled that no struggle will be made to prevent it. I have neither 
seen nor heard any thing to indicate a change of intention. ... I wish 
you were here to advise me. It is a slow and troublesome business to get 
any reliable statements. But for Harrington, it would be next to impossi- 
ble to get any thing done correctly. Yours always, W. P. Fessenden." 
On the 19th of November, Mr. Stanton wrote to Chase : " My dear Friend 
— Your welcome note found me in bed, where I had been for some days. 
It came with healing on its wings, for I was in that condition that noth- 
ing could serve me better than the voice of a friend ; and no friend more 
effectually than you. I am better now and again at work, but with feeble 
and broken health, that can only be restored by absolute rest from all 



I— ( 

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NOMINATED TO BE CHIEF-JUSTICE. 513 

labor and care. This I long for, and hope soon to have. — Our cause is now, 
I hope, beyond all danger, and when Grant goes into Richmond my task 
is ended. To you and others it will remain to secure the fruits of victory, 
and see that they do not turn to ashes. — ^In respect to affairs here, nothing 
of any consequence is on foot. Your experience has taught you that the 
newspaper reports are all lies, invented by knaves for fools to feed on. 
This is especially true in respect to Cabinet changes and the chief-justice- 
ship. Changes in the Cabinet will of course take place, but they will be 
made in time and manner that no one will be looking for. In regard to 
the chief-justiceship, I learn from outside sources that Swayne is the 
most active and Blair the most confident of the candidates. My belief is 
that you will be offered the appointment, if it has not already been done. 
. . . Yours truly, Edwin M. Stanton." 

The Nomination. 
*' Executive Mansion, Washington, Deceniber 6, 1864. 
To the Senate of the United States : 

"I nominate Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, to be Chief-Justice of the 
Supreme Court of the United States vice Roger B. Taney, deceased. 

"Abbaham Lincoln." 

the action of the senate. 

The Senate at once, and without a reference, unanimously 
confirmed the nomination. 

Mr. Chase to the President. 

"Washington, December 6, 1864. 

" .... On reaching home to-night I was saluted with the iatelligence 
that you have this day nominated me to the Senate for the office of Chief- 
Justice. 

"Before I sleep I must thank you for this mark of your confidence, 
and especially for the manner in which the nomination was made. I will 
never forget either, and trust you will never regret either. Be assured 
that I prize your confidence and good-will more than nomination to 
office. ..." 

83 



CHAPTEK XLYII. 

MK. CHASE AOT) THE WAK KECONSTKUCTION AND EESTOKATION. 

To Bev. J. If. Beid^ Cincinnati. 

"Washington, January 23, 1865. 

" . . . . npHE question of the reconstitution of the rebel States as mem- 
-L bers of the Union, is immediately upon U3. Citizens of Louis- 
iana and Arkansas are asking the readmission of their States under constitu- 
tions which deny to the masses of the loyal people in each the right of 
suffrage. It seems to me that it would hardly be a greater crime to con- 
tinue slavery itself than to leave the only class which, as a class, has been 
loyal, unprotected by the ballot. Many of them have taken up arms for 
the country ; many of them have lost sons and brothers fighting for the 
cause ; and now it is proposed to confine the right of sufirage to the whites, 
which will enable them to make all sorts of invidious and unjust discrimi- 
nations ; nor will they be slow to do so. This may, and I fear will, pro- 
duce a worse convulsion than that through which we are now passing ; 
for God mil hardly allow so great an injustice to go unpunished. ..." 

To John Bigelow, U. 8. Minister at Paris. 

" Washington, March 18, 1865. 
" The rebellion seems to be near its end. I do not forget that I thought 
so before, when McClellan was marching upon Richmond, and when Grant 
last spring began his advance. But the evidence is much clearer and 
stronger now. Indeed, it looks to me as if the gradual closing of the 
Union armies around Lee must soon compel his surrender. I should 
hardly be surprised to see it come without a battle. "What a crown that 
would be of Grant's career ! . . . " 

To the President. 

" Baltxmoeb, April 11, 1865. 
*' When all mankind are congratulating you, one voice, heard or not, is 
of little account ; but I add mine. 



PRINCIPLES OF RECONSTRUCTIOX. 515 

" I am very anxious about the future ; and most about the principles 
■which are to govern reconstruction ; for as these principles are soimd or un- 
sound, so will be the work and its results. 

" You have no time to read a long letter, nor have I time to write one ; 
' so I will be brief. 

" And first as to Virginia. 

"By the action of every branch of the Government we are committed 
to the recognition and maintenance of the State organization of which 
Governor Pierpont is the head. You know all the facts, recapitulation 
would be useless. There will be a pressure for the recognition of the rebel 
organization on condition of profession of loyalty. It will be far easier 
and wiser, in my judgment, to stand by the loyal organization already 
recognized. 

" And next as to the other rebel States. 

" The easiest and safest way seems to me to be the enrollment of the 
loyal citizens without regard to complexion, and encouragement and sup- 
port to them in the reorganization of State governments under constitu- 
tions securing suffrage to all citizens of proper age and unconvicted of 
crime. This, you know, has long been my opinion. It is confirmed by 
observation more and more. 

"This way is recommended by its simplicity, facility, and, above all, 
justice. It will be hereafter counted equally a crime and a folly if the 
colored loyalists of the rebel States are left to the control of restored 
rebels, not likely, in that case, to be either wise or just, untU taught both 
wisdom and justice by new calamities. 

" The application of this principle to Louisiana is made somewhat 
difficult by the organization which has already taken jDlace ; but, happily, 
the Constitution authorizes the Legislature to extend the right of suifrage ; 
and it is not to be doubted that, on a suggestion from the national author- 
ities, that its extension to colored citizens, on equal terms with white citi- 
zens, is believed to be essential to the future tranquillity of the country as 
well as just ia itself, the Legislature will promptly act in the desii'ed direc- 
tion, 

" What reaches me of the condition of things in Louisiana impresses 
me strongly with the belief that this extension will be of the greatest bene- 
fit to the whole population. 

" The same result can be secured in Arkansas by an amendment of the 
State constitution, or, what would be better, I think, by a new convention, 
the members of which should be elected by the loyal citizens, without dis- 
tinction of color. To all the other States, the general principle may be 
easily applied. 

"I most respectfully but most earnestly commend these matters to your 
attention. God gives you a great place and a great opportunity. May He 
guide you in the use of them ! 

" I noticed this morning your proclamation closing the ports, and was 



51(3 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

glad to see it. I presume the law of forfeiture was well considered, and 
also the effect of discrimination against foreign vessels. ..." 

To the President — again. 

"Baltimobe, April 12, 1865. 

". . . . The American of this morning contains your speech of last 
evening. Seeing that you say something on the subject of my letter to 
you yesterday — reconstruction — and refer, though without naming me, to 
the suggestions I made in relation to the amnesty proclamation, when you 
brought it before the heads of departments, I will add some observations 
to what I have already written. 

" I recollect the suggestions you mention ; my impression is that they 
were in writing. There was another which you do not mention, and 
which I think was not in writing. It is distinct in my memory, though 
doubtless forgotten by you. It was an objection to the restriction of par- 
ticipation in reorganization to persons having the qualification of voters 
imder the laws in force just before rebellion. Ever since questions of re- 
construction have been talked about, it has been my opinion that colored 
loyalists ought to' be allowed to participate in it ; and it was because of 
this opinion that I was anxious to have this question left open. I did not 
however, say much about the restriction. I was the only one who ex- 
pressed a wish for its omission, and did not desire to seem pertinacious. 

" You wUl remember, doubtless, that the first order ever issued for en- 
rollment, with a view to reconstruction, went to General Shepley, and di- 
rected the enrollment of all loyal citizens ; and I suppose that since the 
opinion of Attorney-General Bates, no one connected with your Adminis- 
tration has questioned the citizenship of free colored men, more than that 
of free white men. The restriction in the amnesty proclamation operated 
as a revocation of the order to General Shei^ley ; but as I understood you 
not to be wedded to any particular plan of reconstruction, I hoped that 
reflection and observation would satisfy you that the restriction should 
not be adhered to. 

" I fully sympathized with your desire for the restoration of the Union 
by the change of rebel slave States into Union free States, and was will- 
ing, if I could not get exactly the plan I thought best, to take the plan you 
thought best and trust to the future for modifications. I welcomed, there- 
fore, with joy, the prospect of good results from cooperation of General 
Banks with the free State men of Louisiana. I think General Banks's 
error, and I have said so to him, was in not acting through instead of over 
the Free State Committee. This committee had already shown itself dis- 
posed to a degree of liberality toward the colored people quite remarkable 
at that time. They had admitted delegates from the Creole colored popu- 
lation into their Free State Convention, and evinced a readiness to admit 
intelligent colored citizens of that class to the right of suffrage. I have no 
doubt that great and satisfactory progress would have been made in the 



CONCERNING RECONSTRUCTION. 51 7 

same direction, had not the work been taken out of their hands. An im- 
pression was created that the advocates of general suffrage were to be 
treated with disfavor by the representatives of the Government, and dis- 
couragement and discontent were the natural consequences. 

"For one I was glad for all the good that was done ; and naturally 
wanted more. So when I came to Washington last winter, I saw General 
Banks ; and being more deeply than ever persuaded of the necessity of 
universal suffrage, begged him to write himself, and to induce the Sena- 
tors and Representatives elect from Louisiana to write to members of the 
Legislature, and urge them to exercise their power under the constitution, 
by passing an act extending suffrage to colored citizens. I knew that many 
of our best men in and out of Congress, had become convinced of the im- 
policy and injustice of allowing Representatives to States which had been 
in rebellion, and were not yet prepared to concede political rights to 
all loyal citizens. They felt that if such representation should be allowed, 
and such States reinstated in all their former rights as loyal mem- 
bers of the Union, the colored loyalists of the States restored would be 
practically abandoned to the disposition of the white population, with 
every probability against them ; and they feel that this was equally 
unjust and dangerous. I shared these sentiments, and was therefore 
extremely desirous that General Banks should take the action I urged 
upon him. 

" I thought, indeed, that he concurred mainly in my views, and would, 
to some extent at least, act upon them. I must have been mistaken; for I 
never heard that he did any thing in that direction. 

"I know you attach much importance to the admission of Louisiana, or 
rather to her right to representation in Congress, as a loyal State in the 
Union. If I am not misinformed, there is nothing in the way except the 
indisposition of her Legislature to give proof satisfactory of loyalty by a suf- 
ficient guarantee of safety and justice to colored citizens, through the ex- 
tension to loyal colored men of the right of suffrage. Why not then, as 
almost every loyal man concurs with you as to the desu'ableness of that 
recognition, take the shortest road to it, by causing every proper represen- 
tation to be made to the Louisiana Legislature, of the importance of such 
extension ? 

" I most earnestly wish you could have read the New Orleans papers 
for the past few months. Your duties have not allowed it. I have read 
them a good deal, quite enough to be certain that if you had read what I 
have, your feelings of humanity and justice would not let you rest till all 
loyalists are made equal in the right of self-protection by suffrage. 

" Once I should have been, if not satisfied, partially, at least, contented 
with suffrage for the intelligent and for those who have been soldiers ; now 
I am convinced that universal suffrage is demanded by sound policy and 
impartial justice. I have written too much already, and will not trouble 
you with my reasons for these conclusions. I shall return to Washington 



518 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

in a day or two, and perhaps it will not be disagreeable to you to liave the 
whole subject talked over. ..." 

To Stanley Mattlieics, Esq., Cincinnati. 

"Washington, April 14, 1S65. 

" . . . . We all feel very happy here in the prospect of the speedy re- 
turn of peace. I hear of no rebel, and no sympathizer with rebellion, who 
does not consider the insurrection as effectually, though as yet only virtu- 
ally quelled. Judge Campbell told the President at Richmond that he 
had expressed this opinion to Davis, Benjamin, and Mallory, just before 
they left Richmond; and they were silent. It was the silence of de- 
spair. ..." 

From Mr. Chase's Diary, April lUh, Friday. 

" At home morning ; afternoon, rode out with Nettie, intending to have 
myself left at President's, and talk with him about universal suffrage in re- 
organization ; felt reluctant to call lest my talk might annoy him, and do 
harm rather than good ; home a little after dark, having postponed my in- 
tended call. Retired to bed about ten. Some time after, a servant came 
up and said a gentleman, who said the President had been shot, wished to 
see me. I directed that he should be shown into my room. He came in 
(an employg in the Treasury Department), and said he had just come from 
the theatre ; that the President had been shot in his box by a man who 
leaped from the stage and escaped by the rear. He could give no partic- 
ulars and I hoped he might be mistaken ; but soon after Mr. Mellen, Mr. 
Walker (the Fifth Auditor) and Mr. Plants, came in, and confirmed what 
had been told to me ; and added that Secretary Seward had also been as- 
sassinated ; and that guards were being placed around the houses of all the 
prominent officials, under the apprehension that the plot had a wide range. 

"My first impulse was to rise immediately and go to the President, 
whom I could not yet believe to have been fatally wounded ; but reflect- 
ing that I could not possibly be of any service, and should probably be in 
the way of those who could, I resolved to wait for morning and further 
intelligence. In a little while the guard came (for it was supposed I was 
one of the destined victims), and their heavy tramp, tramp, was heard 
under my window all night. Mr. Mellen slept in the house. It was a 
night of horrors." 

" April 15th, Saturday. — Up with the light. A heavy rain was falling, 
and the sky was black. Walked up with Mr. Mellen to Mr. Seward's, 
crossing the street on which is Ford's Theatre, and, opposite, the house to 
which the President had been conveyed. Was informed that the Presi- 
dent was already dead. Continued on to Mr. Seward's, and found guards 
before the house and in the streets denying access ; but the officer allowed 
me and IMr. Mellen to pass. 



INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 519 

" . . . . Soon after leaving Mr. Seward's, I went to see the Vice-Presi- 
dent, and found him at his hotel ; calm apparently, but very grave. Soon 
after Secretary McCulloch and Attorney-General Speed came in ; they said 
they were on their way to my house to ask my attendance for the admin- , 
istration of the oath of office as President to the Vice-President. Some>'*'" 
conversation followed as to time and place, and it was agreed it should be 
in the parlor where we then were, and at ten o'clock. I then went with 
the Attorney-General to his office to look into the precedents in the cases 
of Vice-Presidents Tyler and Fillmore, and to examine the Constitution 
and laws. On our way the topic of conversation was the late President, 
]yir. Speed said he had never seen him in better sj)irits than on yesterday. 
He met the Cabinet very cheerfully, and talked with them freely on the 
subject of reorganization. ' He never seemed so near our views,' said Mr. 
Speed. ' Before the meeting of the Cabinet he had showed me your letter 
from Baltimore. At the meeting he said he thought he had made a mis- 
take at Richmond in sanctioning the assembling of the Virginia Legislature ; 
and had perhaps been too fast in his desire for early reconstruction.' 
All IVIr. Speed said deepened my sorrow for the country. After examining 
the precedents and the Constitution, we returned to the hotel, where, at the 
entrance, I encountered old Mr. Blair and his son Montgomery. I had de- 
termined to bury all resentments, and greeted both kindly. "We entered 
the room together — the parlor of the hotel — where were assembled some 
twelve or fourteen gentlemen : Mr. McCulloch, Mr. Speed, the Messrs. Blair, 
Mr, Hale, and others. I repeated the oath, which the Vice-President re- 
peated after me. He was now the successor of Mr. Lincoln. I said to him, 
'May God guide, support, and bless you, in your arduous labors!' The 
others then came forward and extended their sad congratulations." 

To General J. M. Ashley^ Toledo^ Ohio. 

"Washington, April 16, 1S65. 
" . . . . The President has been stricken down when he was most hon- 
ored and best beloved. The schemes of politicians will now adjust them- 
selves to the new conditions. I want no part in them. What the future 
may have in store for us no man can foresee. I pray for strength to do my 
duty, whatever it may be. ..." 

[Not long after the inangiiration of President Jolinson, Mr. 
Chase determined upon a visit to tlie Sontliern cities, with a view 
to learn as much as possible, from actual observation, of the tnie 
condition of the country. The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. 
McCulloch, was about to send a revenue cutter to the New 
Orleans station, and on board of her a special agent, charged with 
the duty of examining the agencies and carrying into effect the 
directions of the department in the several South Atlantic and 



520 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

GuK ports. He tendered tlie use of this vessel to tlie Cliief- Jus- 
tice, and orders were issued by the President, and the Secreta- 
ries of War and of the IsTavy, to the oflBcers in the naval, mili- 
tary, and civil service, to afford him all the facilities that their 
respective duties would allow. Mr. Chase was accompanied by 
his daughter. Miss Janet Ralston Chase, and Whitelaw Reid, 
Esq. The Special Agent of the Department, in charge of the 
vessel, was William P. Mellen, Esq. 

It was under these circumstances that the Chief- Justice made 
his Southern journey. He took great pains to inform himself of 
the condition of the South, and from time to time communicated 
his views to the President. One of his letters to Mr. Johnson 
will be found below. He arrived back in Washington, about the 
middle of August, having returned v/flj the Mississippi River.] 

To Major- Oeneral Sherman. 

Beattfoet Haeboe, N. C, ) 
U. S. Eevbntte Steamer Watanda, May 6, 1865. ) 

" .... I have been thought a radical in principle, and have never dis- 
claimed the name; but I have tried to be a conservative in working; and 
have always got along without breaking things. This morning I met at 
Beaufort, Colonel , a gentleman of sixty, owner of a hundred and twenty- 
five slaves before the war, and a handsome estate in lands. He has come to 
the conclusion that it is best to restore the old constitution of North Caro- 
lina, under which dl\ freemen voted; and believes that the Union and 
Union men will be safer with blacks voting than without. I met others 
with different opinions, but none manifested any such feelings as would 
lead me to expect any renewal of troubles from the extension of suffrage to 
all loyal citizens, and inviting all citizens to participate in reorganiza- 
tion. . . . But I will not trouble you further with these ideas. Time will 
try all opinions. 

" Let me, however, most respectfully but veiy earnestly advise against 
the publication of the General Order you have sent me. I cannot see that 
any good will come from it, but I fear some evil. My knowledge of 
the mternal administration of the "War Department for nearly a year 
past has been only that which all may gather from the journals ; and, of 
course, I am not well enough informed to judge of the motives of recent 
action. I cannot believe, however, that it had its origin in any bad feeling 
toward you, so far as the President and Secretary are concerned. Since 
my conversation with you, I have seen more clearly the motives and views 
which governed you. I presume the President and Secretary do so also. 
They will become more and more definitely informed and impressed. Full 
justice will be done you both by Government and people. 



SOUTHERN IDEAS ON RECONSTRUCTION. 531 

" I earnestly hope you will let reason and reflection do the work of 
your vindication, and put the order at least in abeyance. 

" Pardon me that I thus express opinions on a matter of which you are 
so much the better judge. Your kindness in permitting me to see the 
order seems to warrant it. 

" You are a native of Ohio — a State which received me by adoption, 
and has honored me beyond desert. Your honor and repute are therefore 
especially dear to me. Besides this, your brother was one of my most able 
/ and efiicient supporters in my whole difficult financial administration ; and 
my gratitude to him in some sort extends itself to you. So you must 
excuse my solicitude, not forgetting that it is that of one who is a good 
deal older than you are, and has had a very large experience, if not so 
varied as your own. ..." 

To the President. 

" Chakleston, S. C, May 12, 1865. 

" .... I wrote you briefly from Wilmington. . . . The white citi- 
zens may be divided into two classes: 1. The old conservatives who 
opposed secession, and are now about as much, and in some cases even 
more, opposed to letting the black citizens vote ; these would like to see 
slavery restored. 2. The acquiescents, who rather prefer the old order of 
• things, and would rather dislike to see the blacks vote — but want peace, 
means of living, and revival of business above all things, and will take any 
course the Government may desire. This is the largest class. 3. The pro- 
gressives — who see that slavery is dead, and are not sorry ; who see, too, 
that the blacks made free, must be citizens, and being citizens must be 
allowed to vote ; and who seeing these things have made up their minds 
to conform to the new condition, and to lead in it. These are men of 
sagacity and activity ; but they are few, and few of the few have been in 
consjjicuous positions. In the end, however, they will control. 

" One of the best specimens of the first class I met in Wilmington was 

Mr. M . He is an able lawyer ; a good citizen ; a good man, thoroughly 

sincere and truly upright ; he was a Whig of the Clay school ; ojiposed 
secession earnestly ; submitted to it only perforce. I promised to convey 
his views to you, and will as well as I can ; they may be stated thus : 

" (1.) The best mode of reorganization in North Carolina is to reas- 
semble the Legislature, which was lately in session, and require each 
member to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. He thinks 
nearly every member would take the oath, and that this would be the sever- 
est humiliation to them, and the most impressive lesson to others. (3.) The 
Courts, Supreme, Superior, and Quarter Sessions, should be immediately 
required to resume their respective jurisdictions ; and if this cannot be 
done, that the Courts of Quarter Sessions, composed of the justices of the 
peace of each county, should at least be put in action. (3.) If the Adminis- 
tration has decided not to recognize the Legislature elected while the State 
was in rebellion, then that the white loyal citizens should be enrolled under 



522 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

orders of the military commander, by Justices of tlie Quarter Sessions 
selected by him, or when loyal justices cannot be found to act, by other 
citizens ; and that the citizens enrolled should be invited to elect a con- 
vention to revise the constitution, and provide for the election of Governor 
and Legislature, for the election or aj^pointment of judges, and for doing 
such other things as may be necessary to restore civil government and 
national relations. (4.) That unrestricted trade, excejit in arms and pow- 
der, within the State, with other States, and with foreign nations, should 
be allowed. 

" His first proposition is, of course, inadmissible. I think the second 
equally so, except as to the Courts of Quarter Sessions. Perhaps these 
might be well authorized to resume their functions, each justice taking the 
oath, but until complete restoration, tlieir acts must necessarily be subject 
to military supervision. The third seems right, except that I would not 
restrict suffrage to whites. The fourth strikes me as altogether expedient 
and just. 

" Nothing need be said of the second class of citizens — the acquiescents ; 
except that its existence insures the success of any policy, right and just 
in itself, and enforced with steady vigor, which you may think best to 
adopt. 

" The fourth class includes the men of the future. I met some in- 
dividuals of it. One of the best specimens at Wilmington was Colonel 
Baker, who was in the rebel service, made prisoner, and pardoned by 
President Lincoln. He seemed to comprehend the new situation, and was 
ready to take an active part in the regeneration of North Carolina, on the 
basis of universal suffrage. He is what you and I would call a young man, 
say thirty-five — active, ready, intelligent, ambitious, and of j)opular man- 
ners. Another individual, a paroled colonel from South Carolina, was 
described to me by Mr. Lowell, connected with the Treasury Department, 
who accompanied me, and who mixes freely with the people, without 
being known to be of our party. They met at the Palmetto Hotel, where 
few of the Northern men go. He declared himself fully satisfied that the 
Confederacy was gone up, and said that slavery was gone up with it, and, 
for his part, he was determined not to be behind the times. 

" This classification will give you with tolerable accuracy, I think, the 
sentiments of the several classes into which the Southern whites may be 
divided ; and will probably satisfy you that there is no course open, if we 
vrish to promote most eflSciently the interests of all classes, except to give 
suffrage to all. 

" At Wilmington — besides many white citizens — a colored deputation 
called on me. It was composed of four persons. The spokesman was 
minister of the First Presbyterian (colored) Church in Philadelphia, who 
came to that place some time ago — at the instance of some benevolent 
association — to look into the condition of the colored people, and to report 
upon it. Of the other three, one was a carpenter who, many years ago, 



MATTERS IN FLORIDA. 523 

bought himself, his wife, and two children. The whole family was con- 
veyed to a white citizen, whose character was their only security against 
actual as well as legal slavery. Another, also a carpenter, had hired his 
time, and had all the wages he could earn over the hire paid to his master. 
The third was a barber, who had also bought himself, and then, like a 
sensible fellow, married a free woman, and had himself conveyed to her. 
They wanted my advice in their present circumstances ; were anxious to 
know whether or not they were to be allowed to vote, and whether they 
would be maintained in the possession of the lands they had hired. I gave 
them the best advice I could; to be industrious, economical, orderly, 
respectful ; proving by their conduct their worthiness to be free. As to 
the right of voting, I said that I could not tell whether they would have it 
immediately or not ; but they would certainly have it in time, if they 
showed themselves fit for it. I said that I would give it at once if I had 
the right to decide ; but the decision was with you, and you would decide 
according to your own judgment, with the best feelings toward all men of 
all classes. If they should get it immediately they must not abuse it ; if 
they should not they must be patient. As to the lands, I said that I did 
not doubt that the leases already made for this year would be maintained ; 
but that they could not expect to own the lands without jjaying for them ; 
they must work hard now ; get and save all they could, and await the 
future patiently. They were well satisfied with what I said, and I hope it 
will meet your approval. 

" I could write a great deal more, but it would do no good. While I 
am observing, you are, doubtless, resolving and acting. I am sure you 
will follow out the great principles you have so often announced, and put 
the weight of your name and authority on the side of justice and right. 
My most earnest wishes will be satisfied if you make your Administration 
so beneficent, and illustrious by great acts, that the people will be as 
little willing to spare Andrew Johnson from their service as they were to 
spare Andrew Jackson, And it will be an exceedingly great pleasure to 
me if I can in any way promote its complete success. ..." 

To Charles Sumner. 

" Jacksontille, Flobida, May 20, 1866. 

" . . . . Yesterday I administered the oath of ofiice to Mr, Adolph 
Mot, the first mayor of the city of Fernandina elected by the united votes 
of white and black citizens. Was not that an event ? 

" Some time ago the citizens had a meeting, and the question whether 
the colored men should be allowed to vote was much discussed ; finally 
the liberals carried it. The election for mayor was held soon after, and 
Mr. Mot was elected by a very handsome majority. He had not been 
sworn in when we stopped there yesterday, and I was asked to administer 
the oath, and was not at all loath to do so. General Gillmore — who is 
visiting the military posts in Florida under his command, and whose guest 



524 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

I am — was present, as were also several others, officials and citizens. So 
Fernandina has a mayor elected by a majority of all the loyal citizens. 
If all such elections result in the choice of such men,* the South will rap- 
idly revive under universal suffrage. 

" I was much gratified by what I saw at Fernandina. The place is 
small and much damaged by the waste of war, though exempt from 
conflagrations and bombardments. Cultivation is resumed to the full 
extent of the working force, and promises to be very productive. Mr. 
Mot is introducing the vine, having already planted a respectable vine- 
yard. 

" The schools seem to be doing very well. General Gillmore and I 
visited two. They are composed of scholars of all ages and colors. Many 
of the colored soldiers attend, and are striving very diligently after knowl- 
edge. The teachers are of that army of women to whom the country owes 
more than it can ever pay, and more I fear than it ever will be conscious 
of. The world has never seen such self-denying and generous zeal for the 
education of a race as our American women have shown. 

" Yulee called on me last night, having come in the day before. He is 
very anxious about reconstruction ; thinks that the whites, without any 
distinctions not made by the old State constitution, should be intrusted 
with the work ; admits that personal slaveholdiug is at an end, but wishes 
to substitute some form of compulsory labor, and insists that the South 
will be Africanized and ruined if this is not done. General Gillmore 
showed him the order published this week, which I dare say you will have 
seen before this letter reaches you. The order declares absolute freedom 
for all ; hints at the possibility of suflfrage for all ; advise the late slaves 
masters to pay fair wages and the blacks to work for fair wages; and ex- 
pressly forbids all attempts at reorganization, through the ex-rebel au- 
thorities, whether executive or legislative. The perusal of it rather sad- 
dened Mr, Yulee ; as he had been commissioned by the Governor of 
Florida, with others, to proceed to "Washington and confer with the Presi- 
dent on reorganization. 

" The boat which took Jefferson Davis North lay alongside of ours, 
made fast by lines, for some time, a few mornings ago between Savannah 
and Fort Pulaski. But I did not see him. I did not wish to, unless he 
asked it ; and I jiresume he was not informed who were on our boat. ..." 

To Mrs. Sprague^ at Narragansctt. 

" On the Steamer W. R. Caeter, neab Caieo, Illinois, June 19, 1865. 

" .... At Memphis we got the papers containing President Johnson's 
Mississippi proclamation. It disappointed me greatly. I shall be glad if 
it does not do a great deal of harm. I shall stick to my principles. ..." 

^ Mr. Mot was of French nativity, and was an old personal acquaintance of Mr 
Cliase. 



PRINCIPLES OF EESTORATION. 525 

To Mrs. L. B. SeMon^ Biclimond^ Virginia. 

"Washington, October 20, 1S65. 

" . . . . Your letter did not reacli me until a few days ago on my return 
from Ohio. I do not remember saying to Mr. Seddon, when we parted, 
that the time would probably come when I might be useful to him, but I 
do very well remember the parting itself. I had been much impressed by 
his frankness, distinctness, and evident sincerity. His opinions were the 
exact reverse of mine on the most important questions before us ; but I 
had learned to respect and admire noble qualities in opponents as well as 
in fiiends. I thought it not improper to express to him something of the 
respect and esteem I could not help feeling when I took leave of him upon 
the adjournment of the convention. 

" This is all I remember ; and certainly what I said implied a readiness 
to serve him whenever I could do so consistently with my ideas of duty ; 
and these ideas now, far from prohibiting, prompt a; ready compliance 
with your request. 

" I have therefore called on both the President and Secretary of "War 
in reference to the release of Mr. Seddon on his parole, and am happy in 
being able to say to you that I think no insuperable obstacle exists. ... I 
have every reason to hope. . . . that Mr. Seddon's discharge on parole 
may be expected very soon. When discharged, I cannot doubt that his 
fine powers will be employed in reestablishing union and order on the 
basis of equal justice for all. I think it the only basis upon which perma- 
nent tranquillity and prosperity may be restored ; and I most earnestly 
pray that God may give all of us will to labor with one heart and mind 
for the restoration of these blessings to every part of our country. ..." 

To Lyman AVbott^ J. M. McKim, and Bev. Oeorge Whipple. 

" WASniNGTOif, Kovember 20, 1865. 

" .... To suppress the rebellion the American people put forth vast 
energies, counting neither treasure nor life dear in comparison with an 
undivided country. — And never, in the history of the world, was a civil 
war waged with so little rancor and vindictiveness on the part of the 
nation against rebels. The people never forgot that success must be fol- 
lowed by the restoration, in due time and on just conditions, of the old 
relations between each State and the Union ; and that, to the permanent 
and beneficial restoration of those relations, the reestablishment of fraternal 
sentiments between the citizens of all the States was indispensable. It is 
important, now, that the people who have been in rebellion, shall be 
thoroughly satisfied that the first wish of the loyal people is the reestab- 
lishment of these sentiments. 

" The war has brought great changes. Among these the enfranchise- 

' Mrs, Seddon was the wife of James A. Seddon, member of the "Peace Confer- 
ence " of 1861, and afterward for a time rebel Secretary of War. 



526 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

ment of four millions of slaves is the greatest and most momentous. The 
conversion of this vast population of bondmen into free men and citizens, 
imposes on the people of the States in which this wonderful revolution 
has taken place, on the people of the other States, and on the Government 
of the whole country, new and peculiar duties. It is important that these 
new citizens should be assured that these duties will be neither evaded 
nor neglected. 

" How best to assure the white citizens of the States lately in rebellion, 
of the real good- will of tbeir fellow-citizens of the loyal States, and of 
their readiness to afford active aid, where aid is wanted, in relieving the 
necessities and repairing the injuries occasioned by the war; and how 
best to assure the colored citizens of those States of the country's great 
appreciation of their steady devotion to the national authority, and of its 
purpose to promote, in every proper way, their security and welfare, will 
doubtless engage the most earnest consideration of the meeting. 

" It is a welcome and significant sign of good, that the associations 
which have devoted special efforts to diiferent j^arts of the work of resto- 
ration and renovation, seem now likely to unite their means and activities 
in carrying forward the whole noble labor. The practical methods of 
usefulness, whether in promoting true religion and sound education, or in 
relieving actual distress, or in encouraging industrial enterjirise — will be 
best considered, selected, and put in use, under such auspices. I cannot 
disguise my conviction that the surest and shortest road to permanent 
peace, settled order, sound credit, contented industry, and general pros- 
perity in every State, is the frank recognition of the right of every citizen, 
white or colored, to protect his and his neighbor's freedom and promote 
his and his neighbor's welfare by his vote. 

"But I shall rejoice in seeing good done and in promoting the doing 
of it, in whatever measure or kind, and by whatever agency or authority. 

" We made war to save the Union. The providence of God made our 
war for the Union a war for universal freedom in America, and crowned 
it with success. Now comes the work of restoration and renovation. 
Let it be prosecuted with wise patriotism, sincere good-wUl, and impartial 
justice, and who will dare doubt that God will crown this work also with 
success ? " 

To Associate-Justice Steplien J. Field. 

" Washington, April 30, ISCfi. 
" . . . . What do you think of the plan of reconstruction, or rather of 
completing reconstruction, presented by the Committee of Fifteen ? To me 
it seems very well, provided it can be carried out ; but I am afraid that it 
is, as people say, rather too big a contract. So far as I have had opportu- 
nity of conversing with Senators and Representatives, I have recommended 
them to confine constitutional amendments to two points : (1.) No payment 
of rebel debt, and no payment for slaves ; and, (2.) No representation be- 
yond the constituent basis. And, as so many were trying their hands 



CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 527 

at form, I drew up these two amendments according to my ideas, as 
follows : * 

" Article 14, Section 1. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States, according to their respective numbers ; but whenever 
in any State the elective franchise shall be denied to any of its inhabitants 
being male citizens of the United States, above the age of twenty-one years, 
for any cause except insurrection or rebellion against the United States, 
the basis of representation in such State shall be reduced in the proportion 
which the number of male citizens so excluded shall bear to the whole 
number of male citizens over twenty-one years of age, 

" Sec. 2. No payment shall ever be made by the United States for, or 
on account of, any debt contracted or incurred in aid of msurrection or re- 
bellion against the United States; or for or on account of the emancipation 
of slaves. 

" And I proposed, further, that the submission of this article to the 
States should be accompanied by a concurrent resolution to this effect : 
' That whenever any of the States, which were declared to be in insurrec- 
tion and rebellion by the proclamation of the President of the United 
States, dated July 1, 1862, shall have ratified the foregoing article, Senators 
and Representatives from such ratifying States ought to be admitted to 
seats in the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, in the like 
manner as from States never declared to be in inssrrection and rebellion ; 
and that whenever the said article shall have been ratified by three-fourths 
of the several States, Senators and Representatives ought in like manner 
to be admitted from all the States. 

"It has really seemed to me that on this basis the completion of reor- 
ganization by the admission of members in both Houses of Congress would 
be safe ; and I have greatly doubted the expediency of going beyond this. 
In two or three important respects the report of the committee does go 
beyond this : (1.) Prohibiting the States from interfering with the rights 
of citizens ; (2.) Disfranchising all persons voluntarily engaged in rebellion 
till 1870 ; and, (3.) In granting express legislative power to Congress to 
enforce all new constitutional provisions. Will not these propositions be 
received with some alarm by those who, though opponents of secession or 
nullification, yet regard the real rights of the States as essential to the 
proper working of our complex system ? I do not myself think that any 
of the proposed amendments will be likely to have injurious eflfects unless 
it be the sweep of the disfranchisement ; but, I repeat that I fear the un- 
dertaking of too much ; and I add that it seems to me that nothing is 
gained sufiiciently important, and unattainable by legislation, to warrant 
our friends in overloading the ship with amendment freight. 

" But this letter is too long. Pardon, and answer. ..." 

' If the reader will take the trouble to examme the fourteenth amendment to the 
Constitution, he will find that it is precisely in substance, and almost in words, the 
proposition of Mr. Chase as stated in the text. 



528 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

To Henry W. Hilliard, Esq., of Georgia. 

" "Washington, April 27, 1S6S. 

" . . . . Some days since I received, from an unknown hand, a paper 
containing a letter of yours, which I read with great interest. 

" My acquaintance with you when we were both in Congress — you in 
the House and I in the Senate — was very slight ; but, slight as it was, I 
take occasion from it to write you a few lines, suggested by your letter. 

"Ever since the war closed I have been very anxious for the earliest 
practicable 'restoration' of the States of the South to their proper relations 
to the other States of the Union. I adopt your own statement of the prob- 
lem to be worked out, because I agree with you in the opinion that those 
' States have never been other than States within the Union since they be- 
came parties to the Federal Government, and that the failure to maintain 
their assertions of independence in the conflict of arms which followed, 
left them States still within the Union.' 

" The point on which I probably differ from you is this : the people for 
whom and through whom these States were to be organized at the close 
of the war, was not, as I think, the same people as that which existed in 
them when the war began. 

"In my judgment the refusal of the proprietary class, if it may be so 
called, to recognize this fact and its legitimate and indeed logical conse- 
quences, and the convictions of large majorities in the States which adhered 
to the national Government in respect to it, caused most of the trouble of 
the last three years. 

" I have not time to go at large into this subject; but I may say brief- 
ly, that emancipation came to be regarded by these majorities as a military 
necessity ; that the faith of the nation was pledged by the proclamation of 
emancipation to maintain the emancipated people in the possession and 
enjoyment of the freedom it conferred ; that to this end the amendment of 
the Constitution prohibiting slavery throughout the United States was 
proposed and ratified; that, becoming freemen, the emancipated people 
became necessarily citizens; and that as citizens they were entitled to be 
consulted in respect to reorganization, and to the means of self-protection by 
suffi-age. This is a very brief, but I think a perfectly correct statement of 
what may be called, for the sake of brevity, the Northern view of this mat- 
ter. It would, perhaps, be more correct to call it the loyal view North 
and South, using the word loyal as distinguishing the masses who sujjport 
the national Government from the masses who opposed it during the war. 

"Now the particular matter to which I wish to draw your attention is, 
whether policy and duty do not require the class which I have called pro- 
prietary, meaning thereby the educated and cultivated men of the South — 
whether proj>erty-holders or not — to accept this view fully and act upon it. 

" Is it possible to doubt that, had this view been accepted and acted 
upon three years ago, after the surrender of Lee and Johnston, the Southern 
States would have been richer to-day by hundreds of millions than they 



FRATERNAL RESTORATION. 529 

are, and that long ago universal amnesty and the removal of all disabilities 
would have prepared the hearts of men on both sides for a real Union? 
Can it be a matter of question that the colored voters, finding in the edu- 
cated classes true friendship, evidenced by full recognition of their rights 
and practical acts of good-will, would have gladly given to those classes 
substantially their old lead in affairs, directed now, however, to imion and 
not to disunion ; to the benefit of all, and not exclusively to the benefit of 
a class ? 

" I observe that you say that the attempt to carry on the Government 
with the privilege of universal suffrage incorporated as one of its elements 
is fiill of danger. Danger is the condition of all governments; because no 
form of government insures wise and beneficent administration. But I beg 
you to consider, is there not a greater danger without than with imiversal 
suffrage ? You cannot make suffrage less than universal for the whites, 
and will not the attempt to discriminate excite such jealousies and ill feel- 
ing as will postpone to a distant future what seems so essential, namely, 
the restoration of general good-will and bringing into lead the educated 
men and the men of property, and so securing the best and most beneficial 
administration of affairs for all classes? Take universal suffrage and imi- 
versal amnesty, and all will be well. Can you, my dear sir, devote your 
fine powers to a better work than complete restoration on this basis ? . . . " 



To Captain H. B. Manning, Charleston, 8. C. 

" Chaeleston, S. C, 3Iay 29, 1869. 

" . . . . Your note inviting me to attend the ceremony of decorating at 
Magnolia Cemetery the graves of the brave men who fell in defense of the 
Union during the recent civil war, only reached me this morning. 

"I am very sorry that I cannot be with you on this most interesting 
occasion ; but it is n<jw too late to make the necessary arrangements. 

"The nation cannot too tenderly cherish the memory of her dead he- 
roes, or too watchfully guard the well-being of those who survive. And 
may we not indulge the hope that ere long we who adhered to the national 
cause will be prompt also to join in commemorating the heroism of our 
countrymen who fell on the other side, and that those who now specially 
mourn their loss, consenting to the arbitrament of arms, and resuming all 
their old love for their country and our country, one and indivisible, will 
join with us in like commemoration of the fallen brave of the army of the 
Union ? 

'' The dead are not dead. They have only gone before, and now see eye 
to eye. Why may not we all borrow from their sacred graves oblivion of 
past differences and henceforth unite in noble and generous endeavor to 
assure the honor and welfare of our whole country, of all her States and 
of all her citizens ? " 
34 



530 ' LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND • CHASE. 

To Jolin E. Williams, Esq., Neio Yorlc. 

"Ealeigh, N. C, June 10, lSt>9. 

". . , . I regret that the perusal of my letter to Captain Manning caused 
' painful dissatisfaction ' to you ; for I am sure that you are patriotic and 
not intentionally unjust. 

" Doubtless you remember occasions when your active hostility to meas- 
ures of finance which, as Secretary of the Treasury, I thought indispensable 
to the success of the national aruis, caused 'painful dissatisfaction' to me. 
The present name of the institution which you manage with so much abil- 
ity and success, shows that you have abandoned your opposition to one, at 
least, of those measures. 

"It is perhaps not impossible that you will change your mind as to the 
sentiment which you now censure. It seems to me that, taken in connec- 
tion with the context, from which your quotation separates it, its sense 
cannot be mistaken. It is that true patriotism requires that the close of a 
great civil war should be marked not by proscription or disfranchisement, 
but by manifestations of sincere good-will, especially from the successful to 
the unsuccessful, and, by generous recognition of whatever was really brave, 
and earnest, and noble, in those who fought on the failing side. 

" I have no sympathy with the spirit which refuses to strew flowers up- 
on the graves of the dead soldiers who fought against the side I took; and 
I am glad to know that there was no such spii'it among those who joined 
in decorating the graves of the soldiers of the Union who lie buried in Mag- 
nolia Cemetery. 

" The magnolia lavishes its perfumes as freely, the pleasant air breathes 
as softly, and the warm sun shines as brightly over Confederate as over 
Union graves. 

" In the letter which has incurred yom* censure, I sought to put into the 
hearts of my countrymen something of the divine charity taught by the tree, 
the air, and the sun, as well as by the jDrecepts of our ^Saviour. I believe it 
has done some good, and I hope it will do more. 

" I have read your extract from the speech of ' one of our brave Gen- 
erals' whom you do not name. There are some good sentiments in it, and 
some not so good. On the whole, I prefer the letter to the speech, and I 
am sorry to differ from you so far as to think that of the two, the letter 
'is most becoming the position' which I hold. The Chief- Justice is, I 
think, not illy employed when he inculcates good-will among men, 

"I notice that you more than intimate that my letter was prompted by 
ambition. It certainly was not. I do not think that I ever was so ambi- 
tious as some unambitious people have represented me. At any rate, I am 
now unconscious of any other ambition than that of doing as much good 
and as little harm as possible. 

" I have no connection with politics. I neither seek nor expect any po- 
litical position. Content to leave to younger men all the contentions and 
distinctions of political life, I shall be fully satisfied with my share of the 



REASSERTION OF OLD PRINCIPLES. 531 

general welfare whicli, it may be hoped, wise and generous statesmanship, 
with God's blessing, will secure for our country, ..." 

To Peter E. Glark^ T. JSf. C. Liverpool, J. C. Corlin, and J. T. Troy, 

Committee, Cincinnati. 

"Washington, March 30, 1870. 

" if^j^-^ Accept my thanks for the invitation you have tendered me, in 
behalf of the colored people of Cincinnati, to attend their celebration of 
the ratification of the fifteenth amendment. ]\Iy duties here will not per- 
mit me to be present except by good-will and good wishes, 

"Almost a quarter of a century has passed since some of you, probably, 
heard me declare, on the 6th of May, 1845, in an assembly composed chiefly 
of the people whom you now represent, that all legal distinctions between 
individuals of the same community founded on any such circumstances as 
color, origin, and the like, are hostile to the genius of our institutions and 
incomjpatible with the true theory of American liberty ; ' that true democ- 
racy makes no inquiry about the color of the skin, or the place of nativity, 
or any other similar circumstance of condition ; and that the exclusion of 
the colored people as a body from the elective franchise is incompatible 
with true democratic principles, ' 

" I congratulate you on the fact that these principles, not then avowed 
by me for the first time, nor ever since abandoned or compromised, have 
been at length incorporated into the Constitution and made part of the 
supreme law of the land, 

" Many, no doubt, would have been glad, as I should have been, if the 
great work consummated by the ratification of the fifteenth amendment 
could have been accomplished by the States through amendment of State 
constitutions and through appropriate State legislation; but the delays and 
uncertainties, prejudicial to every interest, inseparable from that mode of 
proceeding, seemed to necessitate the course actually adopted. Nor does 
the amendment impair the real rights of any State, It leaves the whole 
regulation of sufi"rage to the whole jDCOple of each State, subject only to the 
fundamental law, that the right of no citizen to vote shall be denied or 
abridged on account of color, race, or previous condition of servitude. It 
is to be hoped that each State will so conform its constitution and laws to 
this fundamental law that no occasion may be given to legislation by Con-/ 
gress, 

" But the best vindication of the wisdom as well as justice of the amend- 
ment must be found in the conduct of that large class of citizens whom you 
represent. On the occasion to which I have referred I ventured to say that 
' the best way to insure the peaceful dwelling together of the diflferent races 
is the cordial reciprocation of benefits, not the mutual infliction of injuries ; ' 
and I cannot now give you better counsel than I ofi"ered then : ' Go for- 
ward, having perfect faith in your own manhood and in God's providence, 
adding to your faith, virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to knowledge. 



532 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

patience ; and to iiatience, temperance ; and to temperance, brotherly kind- 
ness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. ' 

"Why not signalize your rejoicing in the rights secured under the fif- 
teenth amendment by urging upon Congress the prompt removal of all 
political disabilities imposed upon our fellow-citizens by the fourteenth 
amendment ? — so that, through universal suffrage and imiversal amnesty, 
peace, good-will, and prosperity, may be established throughout our coun- 
try. 

" Every good man must rejoice in the progress which the colored citizens 
of the United States have made in education, in religious culture, and in- 
the general improvement of their condition. Every good man must ear- 
nestly desire their continued and accelerated progress in the same direction. 
All public and all private interests will be j)romoted by it; and it will in- 
sure, at no distant day, cordial recognition of their rights even from those 
of their fellow-citizens who have most earnestly opposed them. 

" No man can now be found who would restore slavery ; a few years 
hence, if the colored men are wise, it will be impossible to find a man who 
will avow himself in favor of denying or abridging their right to vote. " 



CHAPTEE XLYIIL 

CAPTUKE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS ITS EMBARRASSMENT OP WHAT 

HE WAS CHARGED, AND THE PUNISHMENT THAT MIGHT BE 

INFLICTED WHY MR. CHASE REFUSED TO HOLD A COURT IN 

VIRGINIA — RELATION BETWEEN CIVIL AND MILITARY POWER 

THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT — THE 

QUESTION OF ADMITTIiirG MR. DAVIS TO BAIL — A LETTER OF 

MR. CHASE ON THE SUBJECT OF THE DAVIS TRIAL HOLDS 

COURT IN RALEIGH, JUNE, 1867 SICKLES's ORDER NO. 10 

PROCEEDINGS IN DAVIs's CASE AT RICHMOND IS PARDONED. 

THE capture of Jefferson Davis involved the Government in 
serious embarrassment. " I shall never cease to regret it," 
wrote Mr. Sumner in the summer of 1865, to the Chief-Justice, 
" to try him before a civil tribunal would be the ne plus ultra 
of folly." * But Jefferson Davis was not amenable to trial by 
a military court. To hang or shoot him would have been 
equally repugnant to the general judgment of mankind. To 
inffict upon him any punishment less than capital, would have 
been enormously incommensurate with the magnitude of the 
great offenses charged against him ; and not to punish him at 
all seemed, at any rate to the great body of the party in power, 
like a burlesque upon justice. With this body of partisans 
President Johnson, at the beginning of his Administration, 
strongly sympathized, and was apparently very earnest in his 
determination to bring leading rebels to punishment. 

1 Mr. Sumner in a letter to Mr. Chase bearing date Monday, April 10, 1865, says : 
•' The President is full of tenderness to all ; and several times repeated, ' Judge not 
that ye be not judged.' This he said even when Jefferson Davis was named as one 
who should not be pardoned." Mr, Lincoln had just returned from his visit to 
Richmond, into which city he had made a public entry the day after its fall. 



534 LIFE or SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Jefferson Davis was captured in Georgia on tlie lOtli of 
May, 1865, and was immediately taken to Fortress Monroe and 
there placed in confinememt, " to await sucli action as might be 
taken by the proper authorities of the United States Govern- 
ment." ISTot long after, he was indicted in the Supreme Court 
of the District of Coliunbia for the crime of high-treason ; but 
Jefferson Davis had not committed the crime of high-treason in 
the District of Columbia, and, although some public men held 
that the commander-in-chief of the rebel armies was construc- 
tively present with all the insurgents who prosecuted war in 
^N^orthern States and in the District where the indictment was 
found, the Government abandoned the doctrine of constructive 
presence as unconstitutional, and advised that the proper place 
for trial was in Yirginia. Accordingly, at the May term (1866) 
of the District Court of the United States for that State, Jeffer- 
son Davis was indicted — not for the crime of high-treason — 
but that, " owing allegiance and fidelity to the United States 
of America, and not having the fear of God before his eyes, nor 
weighing the duty of his allegiance, but being moved and se- 
duced by the instigation of the devil ; and wickedly devising 
and intending the peace and tranquillity of the United States 
to disturb, and the Government of the United States to sub- 
vert, he " did, in order to effect his " traitorous compassings, 
imaginings and intentions," " on the 15th day of June in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-f om*, in 
the city of Richmond, in the county of Henrico and District 
of Yirginia .... with a great multitude .... to the number 
of five hundred persons and upward, amied and arrayed in a 
warlike manner, tliat is to say, with cannons, muskets, pistols, 
swords, dirks, and other warlike weapons .... most wickedly, 
maliciously, and traitorously ordain, prepare, levy and carry on 
war against the United States, contrary to the duty of allegi- 
ance and fidelity of said Jefferson Davis " to the Constitution and 
the Government, and the peace and, dignity of the United 
States. 

If convicted of the offenses charged in this indictment, Jef- 
ferson Davis might be fined any sum not exceeding ten thou- 
sand dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding ten years, or both ! * 
•' The indictment against Davis was found under the »ct of Congress of July 1*7, 



LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT. 535 

Chief-Justice Cliase — whose district as a Circuit Judge of 
the United States inchided the State of Yirginia — had, up to 
May, 1866, held no court in any of the States in which a state 
of war still existed, and he dechned to hold any court in any of 
those States included in his circuit until the President or Con- 
gress, or both together, had proclaimed the restoration of peace 
and the civil authority as paramount to the military authority. 
Some correspondence had passed between the President and the 
Chief-Justice, on this subject, as early as October, 1865. The 
President addressed a note to the Chief-Justice, October 12, 
1865, in which he said : " It may become necessary that the 
Government prosecute some high crimes and misdemeanors com- 
mitted against the United States within the District of Yirginia. 
Peraiit me to inquire whether the Circuit Court of the United 
States for that district is so far organized and in condition to 
exercise its functions that yourself, or either of the associate 
justices of the Supreme Court, will hold a term of the Circuit 
Court there dming the autmnn or early winter, for the trial of 
causes ? " To this Mr. Chase replied that " under ordinary cir- 
cumstances the regular term of the Curcuit Court authorized by 
Congress would be held on the fourth Monday of N^ovember, 
which, this year, will be the 27th. Only a week will inter- 
vene between that day and the commencement of the an- 
nual term of the Supreme Court, when all the judges are re- 
quired to be in attendance at "Washington. The time is too 
short for the transaction of any very important busmess. "Were 
this otherwise, I so much doubt the propriety of holding 
Circuit Com-ts of the United States in States which have 
been declared by the Executive and Legislative Departments of 
the national Government to be in rebellion, and therefore sub- 
jected to martial law, before the complete restoration of their 
broken relations with the nation, and the supersedure of the 
military by the civil achninistration, that I am unwilling to hold 
such courts in any such States within my circuit, which includes 
Yirginia, until Congress shall have had an opportunity to con- 
sider and act on the whole subject." He added: "A civil 

1862 ; and Judge Field, of the U. S. Supreme Court in the " Chapman case," deter- 
mined at San Francisco, held that participation in rebellion after the passage of that 
act, as was charged against Davis, was punishable as I have stated in the text. 



536 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

court in a district under martial law can only act by tlie 
sanction and under the supervision of military power ; and I 
cannot think it becomes the Justices of the Supreme Court to 
exercise jurisdiction under such conditions. In this view, it is 
proper to say that Mr. Justice Wayne, whose circuit is also in 
the rebel States, concurs with me. I have had no opportunity 
of consulting the other justices, but the Supreme Court has 
hitherto declined to consider cases brought before it by appeal or 
writ of error from circuit or district courts in the rebel portion 
of the country. I^o very reliable inference, it is true, can be 
drawn from this action, for circumstances have greatly changed 
since the court adjourned ; but, so far as it goes, it favors the 
conclusion of myself and Mr. Justice "Wayne." 

At a later date, when there was a good deal of newspaper 
clamor on the subject of the Davis trial, the Chief -Justice wrote 
me thus : " The proper relation of military to civil authority is, 
in time of peace, subordination. In time of war, and on the 
theatre of war, the military authority becomes supreme ; and, in 
hostile districts occupied by military forces, the commanding 
officer must govern, subject to the President. So long as mili- 
tary occupation continues, this government must continue ; and 
the control of the civil courts will be more or less active, as the 
necessity for it may be more or less stringent. Of course, while 
such a state of things exists, inferior courts may very properly 
aid in preserving order, and in administering justice, so far as 
allowed or requested by the military authority ; but members of 
the Supreme Court could not properly hold any court, the pro- 
ceedings or process of which was subject, in any degree, to mili- 
tary control." 

On the 2d of April, 1866, the President issued a proclama- 
tion, called "of peace," in which he declared that the insur- 
rection which had existed in the States of Georgia, South Caro- 
lina, ISlorth Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, was at an end. Mr. Chase 
wrote me, on the 15th of May ensuing : " I do not know yet 
that I shall hold any court in Yirginia or in North Carolina. 
It seemed to me, when I first read the President's proclamation 
of peace, that it might be fairly construed as abrogating martial 
law, and restoring the writ of habeas corpus ; but subsequent 



THE MILITARY POWER DOMINANT. 537 

orders from tlie War Department have put a different construc- 
tion upon it, and I do not wish, so long as — with my notions — 
I represent the justice of the nation in its highest seat, to hold 
any com-t in the lately-rebel States, until all possibility of claim 
that the judicial is subordinate to the military power is removed 
by express declaration from the President. My views are fully 
known to him, and, I hope, are not unsatisfactory. They cer- 
tainly are far from the slightest shade of intention to embarrass 
his action. I recognize, absolutely and frankly, all his rights 
and duties as the executive head of the nation, and mean to per- 
form mine, as head of the judiciary, with perfect fidelity to him 
and to the country." 

These are noble expressions. 

On the 7th day of June, subsequent to the finding of the 
indictment against Jefferson Davis in Virginia, Mr. Charles 
O' Conor, ex-Governor Pratt, of Maryland, and Attorney-Gen- 
eral Speed — the two former representing Mr. Davis, and the 
latter representing the Government — waited on the Chief-Jus- 
tice, at his residence, with a view to ascertain whether he would 
entertain an application to release ]VIi'. Davis on bail. Mr. 
O' Conor suggested that such an application might properly be 
made at chambers in Washington, although out of the District 
of Yirginia, in which the indictment had been found ; and ex- 
pressed the hope that it would be entertained, and that bail 
would be taken. 

The Attorney-General did not consent to the hearing of 
the application, but remarked that, if the Chief-Justice was 
willing to hear it, he would appear on behalf of the Govern- 
ment. 

On this occasion, the Chief-Justice repeated, in substance, 
what he had written in his private correspondence. He said 
that, whenever it should become apparent, either by the procla- 
mation of the President or the legislation of Congress, or by 
clear evidence from other sources, that martial law was abro- 
gated, and the writ of Jiabeas corpus fully restored in Virginia, 
he should unite with the District Judge in holding the Circuit 
Court in that State. At present the Federal as well as the 
State courts, must act in a quasi-rmlxtdixj character, subject to 
such control by the President and by Congress, as might be 



538 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

deemed essential to complete pacification and restoration. Such 
action by a subordinate court was undoubtedly proper ; and the 
District and Circuit Com-ts of the United States for tlie District 
of Yirginia, might be very properly held by the district judge, 
subject to such military supervision as might be foimd needful. 
He had been of the opinion, however, that neither the . Chief - 
Justice, nor any of the justices of the Supreme Court, exercising, 
as they did, the highest judicial authority of the nation, could 
properly join in holding the Circuit Comis imder such circum- 
stances. He was stiU of this opinion. 

The President, it was true, had issued a peace proclamation, 
wliich, in the absence of any action requiring a different interpre- 
tation, would probably have warranted the inference that the ha- 
l)eas corjpus was fully restored and martial law abrogated in 
all the States recently in arms against the Union, except Texas. 
But this proclamation had been followed by other orders from 
the President through the War Department, inconsistent with 
that interpretation ; and in such a matter as this the Executive 
construction of an Executive act ought to be followed. 

If he were to hold the Circuit Court in the District of Yir- 
ginia in the same manner as in the districts in other States — as 
for example in the Districts of Maryland and Delaware — it would 
be his duty to issue a writ of habeas corpus on application in 
behalf of any person in custody within the district under or by 
color of authority of the United States, and examine the question 
of the lawfulness of such custody. If, therefore, an application 
should be made for that writ in behalf of Jefferson Davis, held, 
as everybody knows, in such custody within the district, it would 
be his duty to issue it. What would be the consequences ? If 
martial law is at end, the custody is clearly illegal and the pris- 
oner must be discharged or admitted to bail, or committed to 
the State jail or prison of Yirginia, under the acts of Congress 
relating to the custody of prisoners. 

It was manifestly improper, the Chief-Justice thought, for 
him to interpose in that way with a custody which, upon the 
supposition that martial law yet exists in Yirginia, is purely a 
matter of military discretion with the President. 

Under these circumstances, the Chief -Justice said he could 
not, at present, depart from the line of action he had prescribed 



FEDERAL COURTS IN REBEL STATES. 539 

to Mmself . He could not, consistently with. Lis views of public 
duty, liold a q2iasi-mi\ita,rj court ; nor could lie hold a court in 
any district in a State lately in rebellion until all semblance ot 
military control over Federal courts and their process and pro- 
ceedings, had been removed by the action of the political depart- 
ments of the Government. 

He did not question, but, on the contrary, approved the ac- 
tion of the District Court in holding such courts. Such a com-t 
was now being held in Virginia by the district judge. An 
application to discharge Mr. Davis on bail might very properly 
be addressed to him ; and there was no reason to doubt that, if 
the Government should consent, such an order might be made. 
The district judge, sitting as be did, might very properly carry 
out the views of the Executive made known through the Attor- 
ney-General. 

For himself, the same reasons which would restrain him from 
holding the court, would restrain him, and even more power- 
fully, from exercising any jurisdiction, as a single judge, within 
the District of Virginia ; and he must, therefore, decline to enter- 
tain the application to admit Mr. Davis to bail. 

There was another consideration which would control his 
present action even if he felt himself warranted in holding the 
court. Mr. Davis is now a military prisoner, and not in any 
sense in the custody of the court. Before an application to 
discharge on bail could be considered, it would be necessary to 
inquire into the legality of the military custody by habeas corpus. 
An application for that writ, therefore, its allowance, and an ad- 
judication that the present custody was illegal, would be indis- 
pensable preliminary proceedings ; and no application for the 
writ had been made. 

He mentioned this objection to the action desired in behalf 
of Mr. Davis, he said, without thinking it of mucb importance ; 
for under ordinary circumstances, no doubt, the objection could 
be easily removed by an application for tlie writ and proper pro- 
ceedings under it. At present the same considerations which 
would restrain liim from acting on an application to discharge 
on bail, would 'equally restrain him from the allowance of a writ 
of Tiaheas coipus. 

After these observations, Mr. O'Conor and Mr. Pratt, with 



540 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

tlie Attorney-General, withdrew, and no application to admit to 
bail was made.* 

On the 24th of September following this interview, the 
Chief -Justice wrote me a long letter in relation to the Davis 
matter. " I see, " he said, " that the papers are again talking 
about the trial of Mr. Davis. Perhaps you would like a few 
facts. If you were here I would explain every thing fully, and 
let you take it down in short-hand, but I have not much time 
to write, and I hate to write any way. " He then proceeded to 
say: 

" 1. I have no more to do with the trial of Jefferson Davis than 
any other justice of the Supreme Court, except it happens that 
I was allotted or assigned to the circuit in which Yirginia is, to 
accommodate Justice Swayne, who desired to be assigned to the 
cu'cuit in which Ohio is. 

" 2. When the Chief- Justice holds a court, he tries what cases 
he finds on the docket, if they are ready for trial. It makes no 
difference to me who the parties are ; my duty is to administer 
the law. 

" 3. I never have inquired, and never will inquire, what cases 
are to come before me, except in the regular course and way. 
I neither seek nor shun the responsibility of trying Jefferson 
Davis or any other person. 

" 4. I have held three terms of the Cu'cuit Court in and for the 
District of Maryland since my appointment, now nearly two 
years ago. There were indictments for treason pending at the 
first term, and, except in certain cases where the accused has been 
pardoned, they are pending yet. But the Government has not 
thought proper to proceed to trial in any of these cases. If the 
Government had desired a judicial exposition of the law of trea- 
son, it might have been had, so far as I was able to give it, at 
either of these terms; in April and N^ovember, 1865, or in 
April, 1866. ... 

" 6. I held no court in Virginia in 1865, because the writ of 
luibeas corpus was suspended and martial law enforced within 

' An application to admit to bail was made to John C. Underwood, United States 
District Judge for the District of Virginia, a few days after this ; but Judge Under- 
wood refused upon the ground that Davis was a military prisoner ; and was not and 
never had been in the custody of the marshal of the District Court. 



THE DAYIS TRIAL. 54I 

its territory ; and in my judgment all courts in a region under 
martial law must be quasi-militarj courts ; and it was neither 
right nor proper that the Chief- Justice or any justice of the Su- 
preme Court of the United States — the highest tribunal of the 
nation, and the head of one of the codrdinate departments of the 
Government — should hold a court subject to the control or su- 
pervision of the Executive Department, exercising military pow- 
ers. In this opinion I believe all lawyers of reputation, of what- 
ever poHtical opinions, concur. 

" 7. Soon after the adjournment of the Supreme Court in 
April last, the President issued a proclamation, the effect of 
which seemed to me to be the abrogation of martial law and 
military government, and the restoration of the writ of habeas 
corpus in all the States except Texas ; and I detennined upon 
holding a court at the ensuing May term, but various Executive 
orders inconsistent with the conclusion that militaiy govern- 
ment had ceased, soon followed the proclamation, and led to an 
apprehension that the construction I had put upon it was not 
intended. I therefore reconsidered my purpose to hold the Cir- 
cuit Court, and did not hold one. 

" 8. But, determined to omit no duty, I called upon the Presi- 
dent in April or May (I cannot fix the exact date, but probably 
in May), and urged him to issue a proclamation, submitting at 
the same time a draft of one, declaring, in unequivocal terms, 
that martial law was abrogated and the writ of habeas corpus re- 
stored in all cases of which the courts of the United States had 
jurisdiction, and in respect to all processes issuing out of or from 
such courts. But this was not done. 

" 9. Subsequently, however, another proclamation was issued, 
affirming the restoration of peace throughout the whole country, 
which has, as yet, been followed by no order asserting the con- 
tinuance of military government. Under this proclamation, 
therefore, it seems fair to conclude that martial law and military 
government are permanently abrogated and the writ of habeas 
corpus fully restored ; and this conclusion warrants the holding 
of courts by the Chief-Justice and the associate justices as the law 
may direct. 

" 10. There is no act of Congress, however, which authorizes 
the holding of any Circuit Court in Virginia until the fourth 



54:2 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Monday in Kovember, unless the Cliief-Justice siiould order a 
special term, as lie is authorized to do by an act of the last ses- 
sion. I would no doubt order a term if the District Attorney 
or the Attorney-General should represent that a term is needed 
for the due administration of public justice. 

" 11. An act of the last session of Congress changes all the 
circuits (except the first and second, which include the districts 
in 'Ne^ England and I^ew York), and reduces the number from 
time to time ; but it neither makes nor authorizes any allotment 
of the Chief- Justice or justices to these new circuits ; and it is 
very doubtful whether the old allotment gives any jurisdiction 
to hold courts in the districts which happen to remain in the 
same circuit, numerically, as at the time of that allotment ; while 
it is quite certain that neither the Chief-Justice nor any justice 
can exercise jurisdiction in any circuit except by allotment or 
assignment under an act of Congress.^ It is very doubtful, there- 
fore, whether the Chief- Justice can hold any court in Yirginia 
tni after some further legislation by Congress, making or au- 
thorizing allotment to the new circuits. 

" 12. The absence of the Chief- Justice or a justice of the Su- 
preme Court from any circuit does not, however, prevent the 
holding of Circuit Courts, for the law provides expressly that 
in the absence of a justice of the Supreme Court, the Circuit 
Court may be held by the district judge. Circuit Courts have, 
accordingly, been held in all the circuits within the rebel States 
by the district judges, ever since the reestablishment of the 
authority of the United States and the appointment of district 
judges. These com'ts, during military government, were held 
of course subject to military control and supervision. Any trial 
which might have taken place, the Chief -Justice or an associate 
justice being present, might have taken place with equal juris- 
diction and equal effect, the Chief-Justice or an associate justice 
being absent. ... I had no idea," said Mr. Chase, in conclusion 
of the subject, " that this statement would be so long ; and yet 
many details are omitted. But I believe it is clear and will 
enable you to understand the case, and make others understand 
it also, if occasion arises." 

^ Mr. Chase submitted this question to the associate justices, and they agreed 
with him in this view. 



GENERAL SICKLES'S ORDER NO. 10. 543 

It was not luitil June, 18G7, tliat tlie Chief -Justice held a 
court in any one of the insurgent States, and then at Kaleigh, in 
North Carolma. He stated at the opening, and before proceed- 
ing with the the ordinary business of the court, that the mihtary 
control over the civil tribunals had been withdrawn by the 
President, and that the writ of habeas corpus, which had been 
suspended, was restored. This was mostly effected by the Presi- 
dent's proclamation of April, 1866, and finally by the proclama- 
tion of August 20th subsequent. These proclamations, he said, 
reinstated' the full authority of the national courts in all mat- 
ters within their jurisdiction. 

On the 11th of April preceding, General Sickles had promul- 
gated his famous " Order j^o. 10." The second section of tliis 
order declared that "judgments or decrees for the payment of 
money, or causes of action arising between the 19th of Decem- 
ber, 1860, and the 15th of May, 1865, shall not be enforced by 
execution against the property or person of the defendant. Pro- 
ceedings in such causes of action now pending shall be stayed ; 
and no suit or process shall be hereafter instituted or commenced 
for any such causes of action." But the Chief-Justice, during 
the term of the com't held in June, gave judgment against cer- 
tain defendants in ITorth Carolina, and writs of execution were 
issued and placed in the hands of the marshal of the court to be 
served upon their property. A deputy-marshal, who was charged 
with this duty, was expressly forbidden to perform it by the 
military commandant at Wilmington, where the defendants 
resided and their property was located. A representation of this 
interference was made to the Government at Washington, with 
the result of early instructions to the military authorities that 
there must be no obstruction of the process of the United States 
courts. This was done without any appeal to the Chief- Justice 
or any action taken by him, and effectually established the fact 
that the civil power was again supreme. " But," said Mr. 
Chase, in a letter to Colonel John D. Yan Buren, of ISTew York, 
in April, 1868, " no one will now doubt, I think, that had I 
been in Korth Carolina when the process of the court was inter- 
fered with, the judicial authority would have been maintained. 
I hardly think General Sickles would have arrested me for 
directing the commencement of the usual criminal proceedings 



544 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

against tlie officer who resisted the process. Certainly no fear of 
the consequences would have deterred me from the performance 

of my duty." 

Jefferson Davis remained in confinement at Fortress Monroe 
until the 13th of May, 186Y, when he was taken before Judge 
Underwood, holding a Circuit Court at Richmond, and admitted 
to bail in the smn of one hundred thousand dollars. Among 
the names upon his bail-bond were those of Gerrit Smith and 
Horace Greeley. 

Mr. Chase did not attend upon the term of the Circuit Court 
held in Richmond in November, 1867, but was present at the 
court held in June, 1868. Some proceedings were had in the 
case of Mr. Davis. An agreement between Mr. Evarts, at that 
time Attorney-General of the United States, and representing 
the Government, and Mr. O' Conor, of counsel for Mr. Davis, 
that the case should not then be called for trial, was read, but a 
wish was expressed that some day should be fixed when it might 
proceed. On this paper a motion for continuance was made. 
Mr. Chase inquired if the counsel present were ready for trial 
independently of this paper. In answer, it was ^stated for the 
Government, that Mr. Chandler, the District- Attorney, could not 
be present in consequence of the very imminent danger of his 
wife (who was then supposed to be dying), and that his associate 
counsel could not proceed in the District-Attorney's absence ; 
besides which, the accused, Mr. Davis, was not in court. The 
counsel for Mr. Davis stated that the absence of Mr. Davis was 
occasioned by his understanding, founded upon an agreement 
between the counsel made in 'New York, that the case would 
not be tried during the pending term ; and that they desired a 
continuance to the next reo-ular term. The Chief-Justice said 
it would suit him better to attend during October, if not obliged 
at that time to be in some other district ; but he thought that, 
under the circumstances, the counsel for the accused had a right 
to have the case continued, if they insisted upon the motion ; 
and that he would attend upon the fourth Monday in the follow- 
ing November, and remain in attendance until obliged to return 
to "Washington to be present in the Supreme Court. The case 
was hereupon continued ; it being simply impossible, under the 
circumstances, to proceed with it. 



MR. DAVIS IS PARDONED. 545 

At tlie temi of tlie United States Circuit Court for tlie Dis- 
trict of Yirginia, held in ISTovember, 1868, at Eiclimond, a nolle 
prosequi was entered in Mr. Davis's case, and he was discharged 
out of custody accordingly. He was included in the general 
amnesty proclaimed by President Johnson on the 25th of De- 
cember subsequent, wliich, " unconditionally and without reser- 
vation, to all and to every person who, directly or indirectly 
participated in the late insurrection or rebellion," granted " a 
full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the 
United States, or of adhering to their enemies during the late 
civil war, with restoration of all rights, privileges and immuni- 
ties under the Constitution and the laws." 

35 



CHAPTEE XLIX. 



TJNIVEKSAL SUFFRAGE A NECESSITY OF THE EEPITBLICAN PARTY — 

THE EXCOMMUNICATION OF THE PRESIDENT GENERAL GRANT 

FOR PRESIDENT OBJECT OF THE IMPEACHMENT ASHLEy's 

EFFORT TO BRING" IT ABOUT THE STANTON MATTER 

REMOVAL OF ME. STANTON, FEBRUARY 21, 1868 CONSE- 
QUENCES OF PROMPT IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT 

QUESTIONS TOUCHING THE POWERS OF THE CHIEF-JUSTICE IN 

THE TRIAL THEIR SETTLEMENT — EXCITEMENT — ^TORRENTS OF 

LIES AND ABUSE HENDERSON, OF MISSOURI THE PRESI- 
DENT'S ACQUITTAL. 

"YTTHEN Mr. Chase left Washington about the first of May, 
V V 1865, on his Southern tour, he believed that his own mind 
and that of the President were in substantial accord upon the 
policy of reconstruction. When, upon his arrival at Cincinnati in 
June, he learned of the change in the President's views, he was 
both surprised and disappointed. He did not doubt the final 
judgment of the nation in respect of the extension of the suffrage 
to aU men, white and black, but he foresaw clearly enough that, 
with the President hostile to it, a serious party struggle impended. 
Universal suffrage was a necessity which the Republican 
party could not escape. The blacks must vote, or the Pepublican 
party must die. Undoubtedly, there was a considerable body of 
the party opposed to negro sufii-age, and these found some ex-- 
pression through well-known leaders. Colonel Forney made a 
speech at Carlisle, substantially indorsing the President ; Oliver 
P. Morton did the same thing in Indiana ; and Schuyler Colfax 
hung upon the verge of both sides until the unmistakable 



PARTY DISORGANIZATION. 547 

sentiment of tlie party compelled liim to unmask. The Ee- 
publiean State Convention of New York in the fall of 1865, 
perhaps that of Indiana also, if it did not indorse the particular 
policy of the President on this subject, did indorse his Admin- 
istration, and some conspicuous members of the party, notably 
Mr. Seward and Mr. Doohttle, adhered to the President to the 
end. 

The great mass of Pepublicans instinctively felt, however, 
that the existence of the party was bound up in universal suffrage, 
and believed, at the same time, that it was necessary to the 
permanent peace and prosperity of the country. Everywhere 
the party took ground in favor of it ; expelled those who opposed 
it, and excommunicated even the President, who had been 
elected by their own votes. 

The President was the fountain of office, and in breaking 
from him, the party, it must be conceded, made great sacrifices. 

The condition of parties in the fall and winter of 1867-'68, 
was one of disorganization, among Pepublicans, because of the 
internal war upon the President ; and among Democrats, because 
of the weakening of old party ideas, want of unity, and want of 
capable and popular leaders. It was perfectly well known that 
the President would place the power of the Administration on 
the side of the Democratic party, and although there were many 
offices that he could not control, there were more that he could, 
and these might be decisive of the presidential succession ; and 
Mr. Johnson was a candidate even for the Democratic nomination. 
The Republican leaders were fully alive to the precariousness of 
the party position ; they felt the vast importance of the presi- 
dential patronage ; many of them felt, too, that according to the\ 
maxim that " to the victors belong the spoils," the Eepubliean 
party was rightfully entitled to the Federal patronage ; and they 
determined to get possession of it. There was but one method, / 
and that was by impeachment and removal of the President. 

Meantime a wide-s]3read sentiment had gi'own up in the 
Eepubliean ranks that a candidate must be nominated who would 
command the votes of disaffected Republicans and the stragglers 
of both parties. This same sentiment pointed to General Grant 
as the available man. But General Grant's political views were 
unknown ; he was a War Democrat, but so was Andrew Johnson ; 



548 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and the experience witli Mr. Jolinson disinclined some of the 
more radical Eej)ublicans to another experiment of the same sort. 

The impeachment programme had, therefore, two motives : 
the first and most important was, of course, to get Andrew 
Johnson out of the presidency, and the second and hardly less 
important was, to keep General Grant from getting in. If it 
had succeeded, General Grant would not have been the nomi- 
nee of the Chicago Convention of 1868. 

An effort at impeachment was made at the second session of 
the Thirty-ninth Congress, in January, 1867. General Ashley, 
of Ohio, in the House of Representatives, charged the President 
with "high crimes and misdemeanors," with usurpation of 
power and violation of law ; that he had made a corrupt use of 
the appointing, the pardoning, and the veto powers ; that he had 
corruptly disposed of public property, and had corruptly inter- 
fered in elections. A committee was appointed to investigate 
these charges ; an investigation was made, and three reports were 
submitted by different members. This was during the first 
session of the Fourtieth Congress in December, 1867. A majority 
of the committee reported in favor of impeachment ; but the 
House refused to concur ; the vote being, for impeachment, fifty- 
six, all Kepublicans ; against it, one hundred and eight, of whom 
sixty-seven were EepubHcans and forty-one were Democrats. 
Twenty-two members were absent or did not vote. 

Meantime, the straggle between Congress and the President 
had grown more bitter and implacable, and had been carried into 
the President's official household. Mr. Stanton was a partisan 
of Congress, but clung to his office as Secretary of War, despite 
the President's repeatedly-expressed wish that he would retire. 
This wish took form at last in writing. On the 5th of August, 
1867, the President sent Mr. Stanton a brief note : " Sir — Pubhc 
considerations of a high character constrain me to say that your 
resignation as Secretary of War will be accepted." This was all. 
Mr. Stanton was almost as brief : " Sir — .... In reply, I have 
the honor to say that public considerations of a high character, 
which alone have induced me to continue at the head of this de- 
partment, constrain me not to resign the office of Secretary of 
War before the next meeting of Congress." On the 12th of 
August, the President suspended Mr. Stanton from office, and 



REMOVAL OF MR. STANTON. 549 

empowered General Grant, temporarily, to act as Secretary of 
War. 

Matters remained in this position for some months ; but, im- 
mediately after the meeting of Congress, in December, the Pres- 
ident submitted to the Senate his reasons for suspending Mr. 
Stanton from the exercise of his office. A month later — on the 
13th of January — the Senate, in executive session, voted to non- 
concur in the act of suspension. General Grant immediately 
retired, and Mr. Stanton was restored. 

There was now a brief interval of at least partial quiet, bro- 
ken, on the 21st of February, by the action of the President. 
He removed Mr. Stanton, and appointed Brigadier-General 
Lorenzo Thomas Secretary of War ad interim. Mr. Stanton 
refused to submit, but ordered General Thomas out of his office, 
and sent a communication to the House of Representatives, 
inclosing the President's letter of removal. Mr. Covode, of 
Pennsylvania, immediately, as a question of privilege, offered a 
resolution, "That Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors." This 
resolution was referred to the Committee on Reconstruction, 
and shortly after the House adjourned. 

The excitement in Washington, growing out of the removal 
of Mr. Stanton and its immediate consequences, was very great, 
^nd commiuiicated itself rapidly to the country. The quarrel 
between the President and Congress, it was felt, had at last cul- 
minated, and the final struggle was at hand. 

On Saturday, the 22d of Febniary, an immense throng of 
citizens and strangers congregated in the Capitol, to watch the 
proceedings. "At ten minutes past two o'clock," according to 
the National Intelligencer, " Mr. Thaddeus Stevens rose to make 
a report from the Committee on Reconstruction. The Speaker 
admonished the spectators in the gallery, and the members on 
the floor, to preserve order dm^ing the proceedings about to take 
place, and to manifest neither approbation nor disapprobation. 
At twenty minutes past two, Mr. Stevens, of Pennsylvania, 
chairman of the Reconstruction Committee, presented a report 
to the House." The substance of that report was, that the Pres- 
ident had signed an order or commission, directing one Lorenzo 
Thomas to take possession of the books, papers, records, and 



550 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

otter public property, in tlie War Department. The conclusion 
of the committee was, that Andrew Johnson, President of the 
United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors. 
This report and resolution were debated dming the afternoon 
and evening sessions, and the House did not adjourn till after 
eleven o'clock. The House reassembled on Monday morning, 
at ten, and resumed consideration of the unpeachment resolu- 
tion ; the interval between ten o'clock and noon, the regular hour 
for meeting, being regarded as technically belonging to the ses- 
sion of Saturday. At five o'clock, of Monday, a vote was taken, 
amid great and suppressed excitement. One hundred and 
twenty-six voted for the resolution, and forty-seven against it. 
All the affirmatives were Republicans, and all the negatives were 
Democrats. One committee, of seven members, was appointed 
to prepare articles of impeachment ; and another, of two mem- 
bers, to go to the bar of the Senate, and in the name of the House 
of Representatives, and of all the people of the United States, 
to impeach Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, 
of high crimes and misdemeanors ; and to ask the Senate to take 
order for the appearance of said Andrew Johnson, to answer to 
said impeachment — a high-sounding duty, which was committed 
to Thaddeus Stevens and John A. Bingham, and sonorously dis- 
charged by them, in the Senate, on the next day, Tuesday, the 
25th of February. 

It was • supposed, by the principal prosecutors in this great 
drama, that the whole enterprise might be finished up in a fort- 
night or three weeks : Andrew Johnson a private citizen, and 
Benjamin F. "Wade the acting-President ! Three weeks or more 
were spent in mere preliminaries, and three months elapsed be- 
fore the end was reached, and that end was defeat ! 

But the Senate took prompt order upon the matter, and im- 
mediately (25th of February) appointed a committee to consider 
the matter, and make report. This committee consisted of seven 
persons, two of whom — Senators Howard and Edmunds — the 
next day, February 26th, waited upon the Chief-Justice, after 
the adjournment of the Supreme Court, and informed him of 
the action of the Senate, and that the committee of which 
they were members was about to prepare some rules for the 
government of the impeachment proceedings, and would willing- 



POWERS OF THE CHIEF- JUSTICE. 55 1 

ly receive any suggestions he had to make ; and woidd be pleased 
also to have him attend the meetings of the committee, if it 
would be convenient for him to do so. Some other conversation 
took place, almost, if not wholly, in relation to what the Chief- 
Justice supposed his right to vote would be, in the Senate Court 
about to be organized for the President's trial. Mr. Chase said 
he had not deeply considered the subject, but supposed he would 
be a member of the court, and, as such, would have a right to 
vote in it ; though, inasmuch as his being required to preside 
was in consequence of the disqualification of the Yice-President, 
it might be limited to a vote in case of a tie. But Mr. Chase 
gathered, from the observations of one or perhaps both the 
Senators, that the right of the Chief -Justice to vote in any case 
was doubted, or denied, by some of the members of the com- 
mittee. This interview did not occupy more than five minutes 
of time. 

This question was started right here upon the very threshold 
of the trial for a simple and obvious reason. It was certain, that 
there were some Kepublican members^ of the Senate who could 
not be brought to vote for conviction ; one or two were out- 
spoken in their denunciation of the whole impeachment pro- 
ceedings ; and it was perfectly well known that Mr. Chase never 
would prostitute his judicial office to the help of any partisan en- 
terprise. The impeaching Senators were conscious of the weak- 
ness of their cause, and they did not want it made still weaker 
by either the vote or the example of the Chief-Justice. Hence, 
the motive to deprive him of any voice in the trial. Indeed, this 
apprehension of Mr. Chase's influence was carried to the point of 
seeking to deprive the Senate of the character of a court at all, 
which was persisted in by some Senators to the last ; and of try- 
ing to establish that the Yice-President, filling the presidential 
office — the President being removed for misdemeanor, or disabil- 
ity, or dead — is not President, but a mere acting-President, whose 
trial upon impeachment might proceed in the Senate without the 
presence of the Chief-Justice. This last proposition, however, 
was early found to be untenable, and was not pressed ; but the 
resolution to deprive the Chief-Justice of a vote, even in the case 
of a tie, was pressed to a decision after the Senate was organized 
and sitting as a court of impeachment. But I anticipate. 



552 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

After the interview with Senators Howard and Edmunds, 
Mr. Chase spent the whole of the afternoon and evening and a 
part of the next day in an examination of the Constitution and 
the precedents touching upon the matter, and he became very 
doubtful of the propriety of any action by the Senate in relation 
to the impeachment, until organized as a court of impeachment, 
beyond the simple receipt of the notice from the House of its 
purpose to impeach. This view of the matter became so strong 
in his mind that he wrote a note to Mr. Howard, informing that 
Senator of the conclusion at which he had arrived. This was on 
Thursday, the 27th of February. But he received no reply. 

]^o further communication passed between the Chief-Justice 
and the members of the committee. It proceeded to prepare 
rules, and the Senate proceeded to adopt them, in its legislative 
capacity. Objection was made by Democratic Senators against 
the constitutionality of this action. Mr. Hendricks said he 
thought the Senate in its legislative capacity had no right to 
prescribe rules for its government during the trial. That was a 
function for the court of -impeachment when constitutionally or- 
ganized. A majority of the members, however, did not agree 
with Mr. Hendricks. 

Mr. Chase watched these proceedings with a good deal of 
anxiety — so much, indeed, that he felt called upon officially to 
express his dissent. He did this in a letter dated the 4th of 
March. He said, in that letter, that when the Senate sat for the 
trial of an impeachment it sat as a court, seemed unquestionable ; 
and that when an impeachment of the President was tried, the 
court must be constituted of the members of the Senate with 
the Chief- Justice presiding, seemed equally miquestionable. He 
thought it a not miwarranted opinion, therefore, that the organ- 
ization of the Senate as a court of impeachment, under the Con- 
stitution, should precede the actual announcement on the part of 
the House; and it was a still less unwarranted opinion that 
articles of impeachment should be presented only to a court of 
impeachment, and that no summons or other process should issue 
except from the organized court, and that rules for the govern- 
ment of the proceedings of such a court should be foniied only 
by the court itself. The receipt of this letter created a good 
deal of sensation among the impeachment Senators; but the 



RULES OF PROCEDURE. 553 

Senate proceeded, all tlie same, to receive the articles of impeach- 
ment, the very day it was read ; and then appointed a com- 
mittee of three Senators to wait upon the Chief- Justice and give 
him notice of the trial, and request his attendance as presiding 
officer. 

The trial commenced on Thm*sday, the 5th of March. First, 
the Chief -Justice took an oath — administered by Associate-Jus- 
tice Nelson — " that in all things appertaining to the trial of the 
impeachment of Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the 
Constitution and laws : So help me God." The same oath was 
then administered separately to each of the Senators. 

On the next day, the 6th of March, when Mr. Howard 
moved that the Secretary of the Senate notify the House that 
the Senate was ready to proceed with the trial, the Chief- 
Justice intei-posed. He said he thought it his duty to submit 
a question relative to the rules of procedure. In his judgment, 
he said, the Senate as now organized was a distinct body from 
the Senate sitting in a legislative capacity, and he conceived 
that the rules adopted by the Senate on the 2d of March were 
not rules for the government of the Senate sitting for the trial 
of the impeachment of the President, unless also adopted by the 
latter body. He desired, therefore, to take the sense of the 
Senate upon the question. Brought face to face with affir- 
mation or abandonment of the doctrine that the Senate was not 
a com't with the Chief -Justice at its head, the doctrine was aban- 
doned. The rides were adopted as the rules of the Senate sit- 
ting for the trial of the impeachment. This being done, the 
House was notified of the readiness of the Senate to proceed. 
The notice was immediately given, and the managers on the 
part of the House of Representatives appeared at the bar of the 
Senate ; the articles of impeachment were read, and a summons 
was directed to be issued and served upon the President, return- 
able on Friday, the 13th of March, at one o'clock in the after- 
noon. On the 13th the court reassembled, and the President 
appeared" by counsel, and asked forty days to enable him to put 
in an answer : he was allowed ten days. On the 23d the an- 
swer was put in; on the 24tli the House of Pepresentatives 
filed its re^^lication, and the formal beginning of the trial was 



554 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

fixed for tlie SOtli of March, being the Monday then next follow- 
ing. Accordingly, the trial began on the 30th of March. 

It happened that on the next day a question was ashed by 
Manager Butler of the witness Burleigh, which brought up a 
vital question touching the powers of the Chief -Justice. Mr. 
Stanbery, of counsel for the President, objected to Manager 
Butler's question. This scene then took place : 

The Chief- Justice : " The Chief-Justice thinks the testimony 
is competent, and it will be heard unless the "Senate thinks other- 
wise." 

Mr. Senator Drake (pugnaciously) : " I suppose, sir, that the 
question of the competency of evidence in this court is a matter 
to be determined by the Senate, and not by the presiding officer 
of the court. The question should be submitted, I think, sir, 
to the Senate. I take exception to the presiding officer under- 
taking to decide a point of that kind." 

The Chief -Justice : " The Chief -Justice is of opinion that it 
is his duty to decide preliminarily upon objections to evidence. 
If he is incoiTect in that opinion, it will be for the Senate to cor- 
rect him." 

Mr. Senator Drake (pugnaciously again) : " I appeal, sir, 
from the decision of the chair, and demand a vote of the Senate 
upon the question." 

Mr. Senator Fowler : " Mr. Chief- Justice, I beg to know what 
your decision is." 

The Chief- Justice : " The Chief -Justice states to the Senate 
that in his judgment it is his duty to decide upon questions of 
evidence in the first instance, and that if any Senator desires that 
the question shall then be submitted to the Senate, it is his duty 
to submit it. So far as he is aware, that has been the usual ■ 
course of practice in trials of persons impeached in the House of 
Lords and in the Senate of the United States." 

Mr. Senator Drake: "My position, Mr. President, is, that 
there is nothing in the rules of this Senate sitting upon the trial 
of an impeachment which gives that authority to the Chief -Jus- 
tice presiding over this body." 

Mr. Senator Fessenden : " The Senator is out of order. ..." 
(Here intervened a long colloquy.) 

The Chief -Justice : " The Chief -Justice will state the case for 



COLLOQUY IN THE SENATE. 555 

the consideration of the Senate. Tlie honorable manager put a 
question to the witness. It was objected to on the part of the 
counsel for the President. The Chief- Justice is of opinion that 
it is his duty to express his judgment upon that question, sub- 
ject to having the question put, upon the requisition of any Sen- 
ator, to the Senate. Are you ready for the question ? " 

Mr. Senator Grimes : " The question is, whether the judg- 
ment of the Chief-Justice shall stand as the judgment of the 
Senate?" 

The Chief-Justice : " Yes, sir." 

Ml-. Senator Drake : " I raise the question that the presiding 
officer of the Senate had no right to make a decision of that 
question." 

The Chief-Justice : " The Senator is not in order." 

Mr. Senator Drake (more pugnaciously than before) : " I wish 
that question put to the Senate, sir." 

The Chief-Justice : " The Senator will come to order." 

Mr. Senator Conkhng: "I rise for information from the 
chair. I beg to inquire whether the question upon which the 
Senate is about to vote is whether the proposed testimony be 
competent or not ; or, whether the presiding officer be compe- 
tent to decide that question or not ? " 

The Chief- Justice : "It is the last question: whether the 
Chief -Justice in the first instance may state his judgment upon 
such a question. That is the question for the consideration of 
the Senate. The yeas and nays will be called. ..." (Another 
long colloquy.) 

Mr. Senator "Wilson : " I move that the Senate retire for con- 
sultation." 

Several Senators : " 'No, no. . . . " (Another colloquy.) 

]VIr. Senator Wilson : " I renew my motion that the Senate 
retire for consultation." 

Ml*. Senator Thayer : " On that motion I call for the yeas 
and nays." 

Cameron : " I hope we shall not retire." 

Several Senators : " Debate is out of order." 

The Chief -Justice : " The Senator is out of order." 

Cameron : " Well, I only say that — " 

The yeas and nays were called : yeas 25, nays 25. 



556 LII'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

The Chief-Justice : " On this question the yeas are 25 and 
the nays are 25. The Chief-Justice votes in the affirmative. 
The Senate will retire for conference." 

It had been the intention of the impeachment Senators to 
raise the question of the right of the Chief-Justice to vote in 
any case, upon the first occasion upon which he attempted to ex- 
ercise it. But the suddenness with which the Chief -Justice now 
'made use of his right, and the grave dignity with which he arose 
in his place and announced the result of it — and the promptness 
with which he descended from his seat to precede the Senators 
in their way to the conference-room — utterly confounded the 
pui-pose, and his action was, for the time, acquiesced in without 
a protest. 

When they had arrived in the conference-room, in the course 
of the consultation, Mr. Henderson submitted a resolution, which 
Mr. Sumner proposed to amend by striking out all after the 
word " Resolved, " and inserting : " That the Chief-Justice of 
the United States, presiding in the Senate on the trial of the 
President of the United States, is not a member of the Senate, 
and has no authority, under the Constitution, to vote on any 
question during the trial, and he can pronounce decision only as 
the organ of the Senate, with its assent. " This was defeated 
by 22 yeas to 26 nays. ... 

Mr. Sumner submitted the following resolution : " That the 
Chief-Justice of the United States, presiding in the Senate on 
the trial of the President of the United States, is not a member 
of the Senate, and has no authority to vote on any question 
during the trial. " 

Mr. Hendricks objected to this as not relating to the matter 
on which the Senate had retired to confer, and moved to return 
to the Senate-chamber, which was agreed to at eighteen minutes 
before six. . . . 

At half-past six the court adjourned. 

On the next day, immediately after the reading of the min- 
utes, Mr. Sumner in the open court proposed what he said was 
" an order in the nature of a correction of the journal." His 
order ran thus : " It appearing from the reading of the journal 
of yesterday that on a question where the Senators were equally 
di^dded, the Chief-Justice, presiding on the trial of the Presi- 



POWERS OF THE CHIEF- JUSTICE. 557 

dent, gcave a casting vote, it is Lereby declared tliat, in tlie judg- 
ment of tlie Senate, such vote was witliout authority under the 
Constitution of the United States." The yeas and nays being 
ordered, the result was — yeas 21, nays 27. 

The rule actually adopted neither affirmed nor denied the 
right of the Chief -Justice to vote in any case, but left that ques- 
tion untouched ; though it empowered him to rule all questions 
of evidence and incidental questions, which i-uling was to stand 
as the judgment of the Senate unless some member should ask 
a formal vote to be taken upon it, in which case it was to be 
submitted to the Senate for decision, or he might submit the 
question in the first instance, upon his own option. 

The extent of the powers of the Chief-Justice as presiding 
officer of the Senate, during the trial of an impeachment of the 
President, was — both in the Senate and out of it — very ear- 
nestly discussed during this time. It was held by some that it 
was the duty of the Chief-Justice to determine all questions of 
law and competency of evidence arising during the trial, and 
that there could be no appeal from his judgment. The oppo- 
site view was the doctrine of Mr. Sumner, that the Chief-Jus- 
tice had no powers which were not conferred by the Senate. 
Mr. Chase believed in neither of these extremes ; but he be- 
lieved firmly in his right to a casting vote ; and it is certain 
that, had it been denied to hhn, he would have refused further 
participation in the trial. 

These defeats upon preliminary questions excited the appre- 
hensions of the impeaching Senators as to the final issue of the 
trial. They indicated some weakening of party fealty and disci- 
pline on the part of some Republican Senators. Even before 
the trial began, it was proclaimed everywhere that the con- 
viction of the President was indispensable to save the "life 
of the nation ; " Republican journals and partisans caught up 
the cry, and a judicial proceeding of transcendent interest and 
importance, which ought to have been free from all external 
excitement or interference, was transformed into a party meas- 
ure. The General of the Army took public ground in favor 
of conviction. Every appliance likely to efi^ect it was prompt- 
ly put into operation; and hesitating Senators — astounded 
and overwhelmed by the stonn — ^yielded, against the solemn 



558 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

convictions botli of judgment and of conscience. Some few 
held out to the end, and these were threatened with infamy. 
It was upon the head of the Chief-Justice, however, that the 
torrent of invective was poured with pecuhar fury. He was 
assailed with extraordinary bitterness and persistence. His 
house was subjected to systematic espionage. 'No mail came to 
Washington which did not bring hun threatening letters. But 
in the midst of that tempest of lies and outrage, the great Chief- 
Justice, with unfaihng patience, pursued his calm and steadfast 
way. With never-faltering hands he supported the dignity of 
his office and the impartiality of the law. He did not doubt 
that, with the subsidence of the passions of the hour, his coun- 
trymen would vindicate him against his enemies and accusers. 
And it was so. Even Charles Sumner, though he loved justice 
and truth, in the heat and frenzy of the time had said " Alas, 
poor Chase ! " But Charles Sumner lived to say that Mr. 
Chase's conduct during that trial was one of his noblest titles to 
fame. 

The end of the trial was reached at last. The testimony in 
the case was closed on the 20th of April, and the arguments of 
counsel began on the 22d, and were closed on the 6th of May. 
Then the Senators proceeded to deliberate and to the delivery 
of opinions pro and con upon the matter of conviction, but it 
was not until the 16th of May that a vote was reached. In the 
interval between the 6th and the 16th of May, during which 
time the final result came to be pretty accurately measured, 
and was found to depend most probably upon a single vote, 
the excitement reached its highest point. It was known that 
Henderson, of Missouri, had expressed himself against eight of 
the eleven articles ; his views were imknown upon any one of 
the remaining three. Every effort of inducement and abuse 
was brought to bear upon him ; it illustrated the common de- 
moralization and indifference to the sdnctity of a judicial oath, 
that the Congressmen of his own party from the State of Mis- 
souri, waited upon him in a body to urge him to vote for con- 
viction ! He did not yield, however, but voted against convic- 
tion upon every article upon which a vote was taken. 

The last article — that upon which it was supposed the most 
votes in favor of conviction could be concentrated — was voted 



THE END OF IMPEACHMENT. 559 

upon first. This was on the 16tli of May. A vast audience had 
congregated in the Senate-chamber. Two Senators were pres- 
ent whose health was such that their lives were imperilled by 
coming. And then happened a prodigious thing : a Senator who 
expected to occupy the presidential office if the President was 
removed, voted for the President's conviction ! It is not sur- 
prising that the silence of awe took possession of the dense as- 
semblage as that Senator's name was called. 

It is unnecessary to prolong the narrative. Thirty-five Sena- 
tors voted guilty, and nineteen voted not guilty ; and the Chief- 
Justice said, " Two-thirds of the Senators not having pro- 
nounced guilty, the President is acquitted upon the eleventh 
article." Under the impulse of a profound disappointment the 
Senate adjourned for ten days.* Much dragooning might be 
done in ten days. But the tenth day arrived without any acces- 
sion of strength ; the court of impeachment reassembled ; the 
first and second articles were voted upon, with the same result 
as before — thirty-five Senators voting guilty, and nineteen not 
guilty. And then the court adjourned without day. Mr. 
Stanton immediately resigned office as Secretary of War and 
General Schofield was appointed, and, notwithstanding fearful 
prognostications of disaster and civil and political commotion, 
no evil results followed the acquittal ; and experience proved, 
what good sense had already foreseen, that the political institu- 
tions of the country were as little in the power of Mr. Johnson 
to destroy as in that of Mr. Stanton to save. 

* The night before this vote was taken, a meeting of impeaching Senators and 
others was held at the house of Senator Pomeroy, and Mr. Wade's " Cabinet " was 
there agreed upon ; in the full expectation that in twenty-four hours Mr. Wade's 
Administration would be inaugurated. At this time the " impeachers " were very 
confident of success, though it was known that the vote would be close. They be- 
lieved that there were one or two Senators regarded as doubtful, who icould not dare 
tojlinch in the supreme hour of the trial. 



CHAPTEK L. 

THE "chase movement" AMONG THE DEMOCEATS EST 1868 — THE FIT- 
NESS OF THAT MOVEMENT ITS SPONTANEOTTSNESS LETTEE TO 

ME. BELMONT ^ADVOCACY BY THE HEEALD OF ME. CHASE 

FEIENDS OF ME. CHASE IN THE NEW YOEK CONVENTION — THE 

PLATFOEM A HALF-VOTE FOE ME. CHASE EXCITEMENT 

NOMINATION OF GOVEENOE SEYMOUE HOW ME. CHASE EE- 

CEIVED THE NEWS PAETISAN MISEEPEESENTATION ME. 

chase's views A LETTEE OF GOVEENOE SEYMOUE. 

IN the summer of 1867, the nomination of Mr. Chase in 1868, 
as the Kepublican candidate for President, seemed an event 
likely to happen ; and no donbt a large body of Kepnblicans, 
perhaps a majority of all, would then have preferred him to any 
other leader. But the same causes which operated to bring about 
the impeachment of Andrew Johnson were potent in making 
party sentiment in favor of General Grant ; and this was neither 
a surprise nor a disappoiutment to Mr. Chase. He knew as little 
as any one of General Grant's political opinions, but he had seen 
and admired the patient and persistent energy with which that 
General had prosecuted the war ; his administration of the duties 
of his office as General of the Army was marked by good sense 
and regard for law ; and he was as likely to make a safe and 
successful President as any other purely military man ; and Mr. 
Chase knew that the nomination of a military man by the Kepub- 
lican party had become necessary and inevitable ; besides which, 
there were new watchwords among Kepublican leaders which he 
could not bring himself to adopt, though, under the circum- 
stances in which he was placed, he was not in a position where he 
co^^ld repudiate without great misrepresentation of his motives. 



MR. CHASE AND THE DEMOCRATS. 5^1 

But lie observed with astonisliment, and witli gratification 
also, the rapid development among Democrats of a strong party 
in favor of placing him before the country as the Democratic 
candidate ; not, indeed, that he seriously expected such a thing 
to happen, but because it indicated progress in the right direction ; 
toward the practical application, by the Democratic party, of 
democratic principles in their relation to the newly-enfranchised 
people of the South. 

This sudden and rapid development of a " Chase movement " 
among Democrats has been described as extraordinary and 
phenomenal. In one aspect it was so, and in another nothing 
was more natm^al. It was true that for long years Mr. Chase 
had been a distinguished leader in the antislavery movement : 
he had been far more instrumental in bringing about slave 
emancipation than any other member of Mr. Lincoln's Ad- 
ministration, and was, at this very time, the conspicuous, inflexi- 
ble advocate of universal suffrage. In all this, however, there 
was nothing undemocratic, but rather the perfect apphcation of 
Democratic principles. It was undeniably true, however, that 
the action of the party had been on the side of slavery. This 
was not because Democrats approved the slave-system as a moral 
or political good ; but because, in the formation of Federal in- 
stitutions, it had been necessary to accord to slavery certain 
poHtical immunities and privileges. The Democracy believed 
these to be fundamental in the constitution of the Union. They 
believed them to be necessary to the preservation of the Con- 
stitution and the Union. And in these sentiments the whole 
country participated, if we except the " Independent Democ- 
racy," that smaU body of apparent impracticables, who insist- 
ed upon the exclusion of slavery from all places within the 
national jurisdiction. Of this organization, Mr. Chase, from its 
inception, had been the leading member. Except upon the sub- 
ject of slavery, its principles were substantially those of the Old- 
line Democracy ; and in 1849 no great difficulty had been ex- 
perienced, therefore, in bringing the Old Line and the Indepen- 
dent Democrats together, to secure Mr. Chase's election to the 
United States Senate. He was known to be " sound. " in many 
respects ; to be a friend of State-rights, of personal liberty, and 
freedom of the press, of the subordination of the military to the 
36 



563 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

civil autlioritj, and of that method of constitutional construction 
which had long been a watchword of the Democratic party. 
His conduct duiing the impeachment trial had been so pre- 
eminently upright and impartial that Democrats hailed it as a 
revival of the reign of law. He had exhibited during that time, 
too, that sort of lofty courage which naturally excites admiration 
and sympathy. There seems to have been a genuine fitness, 
therefore, that in the absence of a probably-successful leader of 
their own, Mr. Chase should be canvassed by the Democracy. 

Certain it is, at any rate, that early in 1868, his name was 
freely discussed, and as the time approached for the meeting of 
the Democratic !N^ational Convention, leading Democrats every- 
where turned their thoughts upon the Chief-Justice as a fit and 
available leader, while the same sentiment found a deep, spon- 
taneous lodgment in the hearts of multitudes of the rank and 
file, and stirred the party to its depths. It excited among. 
Kepublican leaders a great anxiety. They knew that the im- 
peachment outrages had not met the approval, nor debauched 
the minds of the whole party ; that Mr. Chase was still held in 
honor and veneration by a large minority within the Kepublican 
ranks, and that the scandalous assaults made upon him had 
rather increased than diminished these sentiments. Mr. Chase 
had gratifying proofs of this. Letters came to him from in- 
fluential Republicans in all the States, assuring him of continued 
confidence, and of support should he be nominated even by a 
Democratic convention. And, indeed, as the time for the as- 
sembling of the convention drew nearer, what had been possi- 
bihty of nomination seemed to be gradually assuming the char- 
acter of a probability. 

But all this was spontaneous, and went on without the agency 
of Mr. Chase, or Mr. Chase's personal or pohtical friends. Pre- 
ceding the day upon which the convention met — July 4th — there 
was but little communication between himself, or any of his 
friends, and Democratic leaders. He was visited by Alexander 
Long, of Ohio, noted as a radical Democrat during the war ; and 
by Dr. Pierce, a brother-in-law of Senator Hendricks, of Indiana, 
who was a conspicuous candidate for the nomination; and by 
Colonel John D. Yan Buren, of E'ew York City, recognized as 
a confidential friend of Horatio Seymour ; and, possibly, by two 



MR. CHASE ON SUFFRAGE. 553 

or tliree others. But none of these gentlemen had authority to 
speak for any other persons than themselves, nor did they pro- 
fess to have. An interview was arranged between Mr. Chase and 
Mr. Samuel J. Tilden, a leading Democrat of New York, which, 
however, did not take place. But the chairman of the Demo- 
cratic National Committee, Mr. August Belmont, in the last week 
in May, addressed Mr. Chase a letter, marked " private and con- 
fidential," and written, that gentleman said, without consultation 
with anybody, blit after being satisfied that most of the leading 
Democrats of New York were favorable to Mr. Chase's nomina- 
tion. To that letter, on the 30th of May, Mr. Chase made an- 
swer. " The slavery question," he said, " is, as you say, settled. 
It has received a terrible solution ; but it has a successor, in the 
question of reconstruction, and this question partakes largely of 
the nature of that. I never favored interference by Congress 
with slavery in the States ; but, as a war measure, Mr. Lincoln's 
proclamation of emancipation had my hearty assent, and I united, 
as a member of his Administration, in the pledge it made to main- 
tain the freedom of the enfranchised people. This pledge has 
heen partly redeemed hy the constitutional amendment prohihit- 
ing slavery throughout the United States ^ hut its perfect fidfill- 
ment requires, in my judgment, tJie assurance of the right of 
suffrage to those whom the Constitution has made freemen and 
citizens. Hence, I have heen and am in favor of so much of the 
reconstruction policy of Congress as Tjases tJie reorganization of 
the State governments in the South %ipon universal siiffrageP 
This was the vital point, and Mr. Chase did not shirk nor evade 
it ; but met it honestly and fairly, and left no room for doubt or 
misapprehension. But it diminished the likelihood of his nomi- 
nation, and he was inflexible in his resolution to make no con- 
cession. The Democrats admitted the utter extinction of slavery, 
but they were unwiUing to admit the logical consequences of its 
extinction, by the application of their own principles, and pre- 
ferred to resist a revolution as certain and resistless as fate itseK ! 
The convention assembled in the city of New York, on the 
4th of July. If the friends of Mr. Chase had been left free to 
choose the place of its meeting, with a view to " outside press- 
ure," they would have chosen New York. The public senti- 
ment of that city was overwhelmingly in his favor. It was not 



564 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

noisy and demonstrative, but was everywhere apparent, and was 
largely owing to the powerful and persistent advocacy of his 
name by the Herald. For months, that paper had urged the 
nomination ; and if the World did not approve, it was not hos- 
tile ; while the Tribune held silence, and, some said, would sup- 
port Mr. Chase if chosen by the convention. This might or 
might not have happened — I know not. 

Immediately upon the assembling of the convention, it was 
found that there was a considerable number of ' delegates whose 
first choice was the Chief -Justice. They made constant acces- 
sions, but there was no organization among them, and no leader. 
The evening before the nomination of Governor Seymour, they 
held a meeting, which was wholly informal ; but enough was as- 
certained, during its sitting, to leave little doubt that, with organ- 
ization and leadership, he would have, in the convention, if not the 
necessary two-thirds, at any rate a powerful body of supporters. 
It was unexpectedly developed that Mr. Chase had a greater or 
less number of friends in almost every delegation. A majority 
of the Kew England delegates were for him ; the N'ew York dele- 
gation, by formal vote, agreed upon his support in the conven- 
tion, under certain circumstances, very likely to arise ; he had a 
majority in two or three of the Western delegations, and friends 
in every one. The strongest opposition came from Ohio, and 
this was due, in about equal parts, to earnest desire for the nom- 
ination of Mr. Pendleton, and to recollections of past political 
battles, with Mr. Chase as the leader of their victorious enemies. 
The delegates from the Southern States, it was understood, would 
support any candidate thought, by the convention, most likely to 
carry the North, though even some of these were, in the first in- 
stance, for the Chief -Justice. On the other hand, some Southern 
men were bitter against him. 

The first day of the convention — Saturday — was spent in the 
usual preliminary proceedings. On Monday, the 6th of July, a 
permanent organization was effected; and ex-Governor Horatio 
Seymour, believed to be friendly to the nomination of Mr. Chase, 
was elected permanent president. This was accepted as a favor- 
able indication. In the afternoon of the third day, the platform 
was presented and adopted. A great deal that was politically 
sound was affirmed in it, and a great deal that was capable of 



SCOTT'S VOTE FOR MR. CHASE. 565 

misrepresentation and misconstruction was affirmed also ; closing 
up with a vote of thanks for President Johnson, and an appeal 
to every patriot, " including all the conservative element, and all 
who desire to support the Constitution and restore the Union," 
to unite with the Democratic party, in " the great struggle for 
the liberties of the people ; " and to all such, no matter to what 
party they had before belonged, the "right hand of fellowship" 
was extended, and they were to be called " friends and brethren " 
— which was not a very powerful inducement to cooperation, as 
events proved. An imperfect transcript of the platform was 
telegraphed to Mr. Chase, and he answered back that he could 
give no opinion till he saw it all ; but that what he had received 
did not seem to be objectionable. 

On the fourth day ("Wednesday) the balloting began. Mr. 
Chase's name was not presented. Pendleton, of Ohio, had 105 
votes ; Andrew Johnson had 65 ; General Hancock 33|- ; San- 
ford E. Church, of IS"ew York, 33 ; and the remainder were cast 
for several different gentlemen. Mr. Pendleton gathered 
strength up to the eighth ballot, when he received 156^ votes ; 
less than one-half the convention (the whole vote was 317), and 
it became clear that his nomination was not possible. Meantime 
the sentiment grew outside, as no mention was made of Mr. 
Chase, that his name was being held in abeyance for a favorable 
conjunctm-e ; when, upon presentation, he would be nominated 
by acclamation. But of course this was a mistake. On the 
afternoon of the fifth day of the convention, and the second day 
of the balloting, a delegate from California — Scott by name — 
suddenly and unexpectedly cast a half-vote for " Chief-Justice 
Salmon P. Chase." The effect upon the dense audience assem- 
bled in attendance upon the proceedings, was as sudden and un- 
expected as the half-vote itself. Mr. Chase's name was received 
with a bm-st of enthusiasm spontaneous and universal. A scene 
of deUrious excitement, which lasted unremittingly for ten min- 
utes, suspended the action of the convention. Men and women 
joined in it ; the multitude outside, apprised of the cause of the 
demonstration within, caught the inspiration of the theme, and 
added theii- voices to the general applause. It was a strange and 
extraordinary occurrence ; and thoroughly bewildering to most 
of the members of the convention. 



566 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Under the influence of tlie excitement it occasioned, tlie con- 
vention took a brief recess ; but in the absence of an organized 
movement among the delegates favorable to Mr. Chase, the 
golden opportunity for his nomination was not improved. 

Scott, of Cahf omia, on two or three subsequent ballots again 
voted for Mr. Chase ; and on the twenty-first and final ballot he 
had four votes. In the midst of it the name of Governor Sey- 
mour was suddenly proposed by the Ohio delegation, and he was 
nominated by acclamation. There was great enthusiasm in the 
convention, of course; after some days Governor Seymour ac- 
cepted with extreme reluctance, and made as good a canvass — 
perhaps better than any other " straight " Democrat could have 
done. But from the beginning the election of a "straight" 
Democrat was impossible. 

The result of the convention was quite expected by Mr. 
Chase, for though he had thought his nomination possible, he 
had not thought it probable. When the news came, 'he was en- 
gaged at a game of "croquet" with his old friend George 
"Wood, a clerk in the Treasury Department. He read the tele- 
gram ; handed it to Mr. Wood, who read it also, and then Mr. 
Chase continued his play — ^he was very fond of this simple game 
— undisturbed by disappointment or anxiety. 

There was of course a great deal of partisan misrepresentation 
of Mr. Chase's connection with this movement. He was charged 
with an abandonment of principles and a willingness to accept 
the Democratic nomination upon any terms and upon any plat- 
form. !N^othing could be fm'ther from the truth. Mr. Chase 
did not seek the nomination. He made no concession of any 
kind, and was asked to make none. His strength lay in his prin- 
ciples and in the certainty that he would adhere to them, and 
that they would be the basis of his administrative action, if he 
were called upon to act. On his part, Mr. Chase believed that 
if the Democratic party would commit itself in good faith to the 
doctrine of universal suffrage, and make nominations consistent 
with the doctrine, it could hardly faO. of success before the peo- 
ple, and that, for many and obvious reasons, a Democratic Ad- 
ministration, better than one in opposition, could effect a rapid 
reconstruction of the Union upon safe and enduring founda- 
tions. In this he might, of course, have been mistaken. 



MR. CHASE'S PLATFORM. 567 

He left no ground for misunderstanding on the part of Dem- 
ocrats desiring his nomination. Shortly before the meeting of 
the convention he prepared a statement of his views, which was 
not only in harmony with his own antecedents, but were such as 
a Democratic convention might adopt in perfect consistency with 
Democratic principles ; and it is quite likely that their adoption 
would have realized " his desire to see the Democratic party meet- 
ing the questions of the day in the spirit of the day, and assuring 
to itself a long duration of ascendency." It will be observed 
that in neither of the propositions in this statement is any opin- 
ion expressed concerning the permanence of the new govern- 
ments estabhshed in the South under the reconstruction laws, 
or of the liability of those governments to modification and alter- 
ation in the modes prescribed by the new constitutions. The 
reason is, that Mr. Chase had no expectation that any question 
would be made by any party upon the validity or alterability of 
those constitutions, whatever might be the difference of opinion 
in relation to the measures in which they had their origin. 
This statement was printed, the first part of it in June, and the 
last some time early in July, 1868, and was found to be entirely 
acceptable to a large nmnber of distinguished Democrats both 
in and out of the convention. It was as follows : 

" I. 1. Universal suffrage is a democratic principle, the application of 
wliich is to be left, under the Constitution of the United States, to the 
States themselves; -and universal amnesty and complete removal of all 
disabilities on account of participation in the late rebellion, are not only 
wise and just measures of public policy, but essentially necessary to the 
beneficial administration of government in the States recently involved in 
civil war with the United States, and to the full and satisfactory reestab- 
lishment of the practical relations of those States with the other States of 
the American Union. 

" 2. No military government over any State of the Union, in time of 
peace, is compatible with the principles of civil liberty established by the 
Constitution; nor can the trial of private citizens by military commis- 
sions be tolerated by a people jealous of their freedom and desiring to be 
free. 

"3. Taxes should be reduced as far as practicable, collected impar-' 
tially and with strict economy, and so apportioned as to bear on wealth 
rather than on labor ; and, while all national obligations should be hon- 
estly and exactly fulfilled, no special privileges should be allowed to any 
classes of individuals or corporations. 



568 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" II. 1. The American Democracy, reposing tlieir trust, under God, in 
the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discriminating justice of the 
American people, declare their fixed adhesion to the great principles of 
equal rights and exact justice for all men and all States, and their purpose 
to apply them, within constitutional limits, to all questions which, in the 
varying exigencies of public affairs, may demand consideration and solu- 
tion. 

" 2. We congratulate each other and the whole j)eople upon the aus- 
picious return of peace after protracted civil war, and, ofi'eruig our most 
earnest thanks to the brave soldiers of the Union, whose heroic courage, 
patient endurance, and self-sacrificing patriotism, have preserved for us an 
undivided country, ^^e discard from our hearts every sentiment, save good- 
will, toward those who, having been brave enemies in war, now return to 
their duties as citizens of the United States. We welcome them to a noble 
rivalry in earnest efforts to surpass each other in mutual afiection and com- 
mon devotion to that Union whose symbol once more floats in glory and 
honor over all our land. 

" 3. That slavery, having perished by the war, and being now pro- 
hibited by an amendment of the national Constitution, neither can nor 
ought to be restored ; while a wise regard to the altered circumstances of 
the country, and impartial justice to the millions who have been enfran- 
chised, demand the ado^jtion of proper constitutional measures for the pro- 
tection, improvement, and elevation of this portion of the American people. 

" 4. That, in a land of democratic institutions, all public and private 
interests repose most securely on the broadest basis of suffrage ; but, under 
the system of distinct though united States, which distinguishes our 
American Government from the consolidated governments of the Old 
World, both wisdom and duty require that the application of this prin- 
ciple be left in the several States, under the Constitution of the United 
States, to the people of each State, without interference by the national 
Government. 

" 5. That public security is endangered, and the public prosperity ar- 
rested, by the unwise and ui^ust disfranchisement imposed on the people 
of the Southern States by recent legislation ; the best guarantees of per- 
fect peace, increasing wealth, and beneficent government in those States 
will be found ia complete and universal amnesty, and the s]3eediest pos- 
sible removal of all civil and political disabilities. 

" 6. That we have observed with alarm the growing tendency to the 
centralization and consolidation of all the powers of the national Govern- 
ment in the legislative dej)artment, and are constrained to oppose to it a 
determined resistance. It is of the first importance that every department 
of the Government, whether legislative, judicial, or executive, be main- 
tained in its full constitutional authority, without encroachment by either 
upon the other. Unconstitutional and usurped control of the other de- 
partments by the Legislature must result not only in the destruction of 



MR. CHASE'S PLATFOEM. 569 

the checks and balances of the Constitution, but ultimately in the subju- 
gation of the Senate, in the subversion of the States, and in the overthrow 
of the Union. 

" 7. That we earnestly condemn the establishment and continuance of 
military government in the States, and especially the trial of citizens by 
military commissions as unnecessary, unwise, and inconsistent with the 
fundamental principles of civil liberty. Neither military governments nor 
military commissions, for the trial of civilians in time of peace, can be tol- 
erated by a free people resolved to maintain free institutions. 

" 8. That the maintenance of great armies and navies in time of peace 
imposes heavy burdens on industry, and is dangerous to liberty. We in- 
sist, therefore, on the reduction of our army and navy to the smallest num- 
bers consistent with due efficiency, and upon the withdrawal from the 
Southern States of all military force not absolutely necessary for the sup- 
port of the civil authority. 

" 9. That no fears need be entertained of evil consequences from the 
extension of the area of the United States; while, therefore, we have 
neither the purpose nor the wish to impose our institutions by force upon 
any people, we shall welcome the accession to the American Union of 
neighbor States whenever they are willing to come in and can be received 
without breach of international obligations. 

" 10. That the full weight of American assertion and influence should 
be given to the doctrine that the citizens and subjects of all civilized 
States have the right to choose in what country and under what govern- 
ment they will live : and we especially insist that all American citizens, 
whether native or naturalized, shall be promptly and efficiently protected 
by the national Government, in every part of the world, against the op- 
pression and injustice of all governments whatever. 

" 11. That in our judgment the conduct of our Indian affairs has been 
marked by great corruption, and needs to be thoroughly reformed. To 
protect the remnants of the powerful tribes which once possessed this 
broad land in their decay and weakness, is the plain duty of the powerful 
nation which has succeeded them. 

" 12. That labor is the true source of all wealth, and the men of labor 
are not only the real authors of the material well-being, but the best de- 
fenders of the honor and interests of the country ; it is, therefore, not less 
the dictate of wise policy than of sound principles that the rights of labor 
be fully maintained, and every possible opportunity of individual improve- 
ment secured, by just laws, to the working-men of the country. 

" 13. That honor and duty alike requu-e the honest payment of the 
public debt and the faithful performance of all public obligations ; but 
we do not admit that creditors, more than other men, are entitled to spe- 
cial favor in the intei-pretation of the laws by which their rights and the 
public duties are determined. The interpretation of laws, in cases of con- 
flicting interests, belongs to the courts. 



#• 



570 LIFE" OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" 14. That it is the duty of Congress to arrest all wasteful expendi- 
tures; to alleviate the burdens of taxation bywise distribution; to reduce 
and remove, as far as practicable, those which bear especially upon labor, 
and to prevent, by wise laws, mismanagement, fraud, and corruption in 
' the collection of the revenue ; and it is equally the (^ntj of every branch 
of the Government to enforce and practise the most rigid economy in the 
conduct of our public affairs. 

"15. That we invite and welcome the cooperation of all patriotic citi- 
zens who are willing to unite with us in our determination to maintain 
the union of the States, the rights of the States, and the rights of citizens ; 
to arrest the progress of consolidation and the arbitrary exercise of mili- 
tary power ; and to bring back to the Government economical, vigorous, 
and beneficial administration, and to the States and to the people peace, 
progress, and prosperity." 

I am allowed, in connection with this subject, and in conclu- 
sion of it, to lay before my readers the following extremely in- 
teresting letter of ex-Governor Seymour, written now nearly a 
year ago : 

"Utica, New Tokk, September 13, 1873. 

" .... In answer to your inquiries about the action of the National 
Democratic Convention of 1868, and the attitude of Chief-Justice Chase 
in relation to it, I can say that great injustice has been done to him by 
those who charge that he sought its nomination ; or that he showed any 
willingness to sacrifice any political principles to gain it. 

" The facts, so far as my knowledge and belief go, are simply these : 
Early in 1868 the question as to the policy to be pursued by the Demo- 
cratic party was discussed by its leading men. There were the usual dif- 
ferences of opinion with regard to the candidates to be named for national 
offices. In New York there was a general agreement upon Judge Church, 
if the candidate for the presidency should- be taken from this State; or 
upon Mr. Hendricks, of Indiana, if the candidate should be taken from out- 
side of its limitSi. There was no ill-will toward other persons named for 
the office of President ; but these gentlemen were deemed the most avail- 
able under the circumstances. They were voted for by the delegation 
from New York, in the convention. But behind the question as to prefer- 
ences with regard to Democratic candidates, there were grave doubts if 
any one could be elected by the unaided strength of that party. WhUe 
there was general dissatisfaction with the conduct and jiolicy of the Re- 
publican organization, yet the prejudices engendered by the war against 
the Democratic party still lingered in the minds of great numbers who 
wished for a change in the conduct of public affairs. The propriety of 
putting in nomination some one who could command the votes of such 
persons was also discussed. No direct movement could be made to bring 
about such a result until the body of the party should approve of the 



LETTER OF EX-GOVERNOR SEYMOUR. 571 

policy, and until the regular candidates should consent to it. In the 
mean time the considerations in favor of such a policy were in various 
ways brought to public notice so that they might be duly weighed in case 
the contingency should arise when it would be advisable to present it for 
action. Such considerations were briefly these : In the first place, it was 
doubtful if a Democrat could be elected President. In the next place, if 
elected, could he without a strong body of supporters in the national 
Legislature carry on a successful Administration ? The tenure-of-office act 
tied the hands of the President. The Republicans held control of both 
branches of Congress. If the Democrats elected a President, he would 
have responsibility without power. His position would be worse than 
that of President Johnson, who had struggled with ability and vigor, but 
vainly, to uphold executive rights and powers. But the question came up, 
How could Democrats support any one who did not hold their views as 
to those questions which bad divided parties ? Or how could any man 
worthy of the presidential chair be the candidate of a party with whose 
principles he was not in accord ? If the election was to turn upon the old 
and standard questions, it was clear that no candidate could be placed in 
nomination by the convention who was not identified with the political 
party it represented. But many thought, and I agreed with them, that 
the condition of the country demanded the suspension of the questions 
usually involved in our elections ; that there were underlying principles 
which must be adjusted before political action could take its usual forms. 
The country had just passed through a long and bloody war. The neces- 
sities of the conflict or the policy of those in power had broken down 
many of the maxims of civil liberty and of personal right, which had ever 
before been held as sacred and inviolable. Military power and martial 
law had ruled so long that we had lost sight of the best and greatest prin- 
ciples of our government. As the war was closed, thoughtful men were 
anxious that there should be a distinct and clear return to the maxims, 
that the military power should always be held in subordination to civil 
power — that ours should be a government of law, not of mere force. Men 
could consistently act together in the election of 1868 to bring about this 
return to a constitutional policy who did not agree about the finances, 
the tarifi", or the lines which marked the boundaries between the State and 
General Government jurisdictions. Of what value or significance were dis- 
cussions about tarifis, or State rights, or the finances, if we were not 
to have fair elections, uncontrolled by military authority; if personal 
rights and civil liberty were to be trampled on by martial law, and court- 
martials were to take the place of judicial tribunals ? If the issues of the 
election were to turn upon this contest between civil and military power, 
the name of the Chief-Justice naturally presented itself to men's minas. He 
had taken a bold stand against the usurpation of power by military courts. 
As a judge he had decided against the legality of the military trials 
in Indiana. He had upheld the laws of evidence, procedure, and justice 



573 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

during the impeachment trial of President Johnson. These facts, together 
with his high position, marked ability, and stainless private character, made 
him prominent as a fit standard-bearer in the contest between civU rights 
and the military power. In such a contest the Democratic party could 
consistently make him their leader, and he could with propriety be their 
candidate. While his name was thus brought into the discussions of 
Democratic councils, there was no communication with him on the part 
of any delegate to the convention, to my knowledge. I think I first sug- 
gested the propriety of his nomination, if the contingency should arise 
which would make it expedient ; and I frequently j)resented to other dele- 
gates the reasons in favor of it. Yet in no way had I any communication 
with him, directly or indirectly, nor did I ever hear that he looked upon 
his nomination as probable or desirable. We thought he could not reject 
it, if it was made upon the ground I have suggested. When the conven- 
tion met, the friends of Democratic candidates were earnest and urgent in 
behalf of those they deemed the most suitable and popular. As the difii- 
culty in the way of agreeing upon a Democratic candidate became appar- 
ent, the name of Mr. Chase was looked upon with more favor. The dele- 
gation from New York decided upon presenting it to the convention un- 
less it could secure the nomination of Mr. Hendricks. There would have 
been a strong opposition to Mr. Chase at the outset, but I think in the end 
he would have been nominated. But time was needed to bring this about, 
and the delegates were impatient to return to their homes. Many of them 
could not afford the expense of a long stay in the city of New York, and 
none of them had made arrangements for a protracted session. Impa- 
tience to close the work of the convention had much to do with its final 
unconsidered action. 

" I believed Mr. Chase would be elected if nominated. This opinion 
did not spring from any personal prejudice in his favor, for my acquaint- 
ance with him was very slight ; and I had not seen him in many years. 
On the other hand, I felt a strong political and personal friendship for the 
Democratic candidates. I agreed with the other members of the New 
York delegation in urging the nomination of Mr. Hendricks if any Demo- 
crat was to be selected, and I did not wish to have Mr. Chase presented 
unless it could be done with the assent of other candidates and their 
friends. His name could not be urged in a Democratic convention in any 
way that seemed to be hostile to any Democratic leader. At the outset 
there would have been some feeling of opposition to him in the Demo- 
cratic ranks, but that would have passed away as the character of the 
political issue made itself clear. The whole contest would have been 
narrowed down to the question whether this Government was to become 
a military one in its policy and aspects, or was to be restored to its con- 
stitutional action. The very professions and positions of the candidates 
would have made clear and distinct the fact that the people were called 
upon to decide between a military or civil policy ; between force or laws ; 



THE LIBERAL REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 573 

between military tribunals or courts known to our traditions and customs, 
and designed to protect the rights, the property, and the homes of our 
citizens. 

" I have no other feelings toward General Grant than those of good-will, 
and I hope his Administration may, in the end, prove to be a blessing to 
our country. I do not wish to question his purpose to direct public afiairs 
according to his convictions of official duty and policy as they have been 
impressed upon him by the circumstances, the pursuits, and the events of 
his life ; but I believe the interests of the country, at the close of the 
civil war, demanded the guidance of one trained in the schools of civil 
policy, of judicial impartiality, and of statesmanlike experience and labor. 
I recognize the value of General Grant's military services and his claims 
upon the gratitude of his country, but think the welfare of that country 
and his own interests and happiness would have been promoted if he had 
remained in the exalted military position he held at the close of the war, 
and for which he was fitted by the training and events of his life. I be- 
lieve that, if 'Mr. Chase had been made President in 1868, the difficulties 
and dangers which now perplex our coimtry would have been at this time 
satisfactorily adjusted. I am truly yours, 

"Horatio Seymouk." 



NOTE TO CHAPTER L. 

The connection of Mr. Chase's name with the action of the New York 
Convention was, in point of fact, the end of his participation in active 
politics. In 1872 some prominence was given to him in connection with 
the " Liberal Republican " movement, which culminated in the nomina- 
tion of Ml-. Greeley at Cincinnati, in May of that year. But the state of 
his health was such as to make it quite impossible that he could receive 
the nomination, though he received thirty-six votes in the convention. 
IJe took no very great interest in the matter; but he entertained a hope 
that the movement would result in bringing the Democratic party to a 
square support of the doctrine of universal suifrage. At the end of the 
next chapter will be found two letters of Mr. Chase to Demarest Lloyd, 
which embody all that he thought on the subject. 



CHAPTER LI. 

LETTERS OF MR. CHASE UPON BIPEACnMENT AKD THE NEW TOEK 

CONVENTION. 

Mr. Schuckers to John 8. Corhin, Selma, Alabama. 

" Wabhington, November 25, 186T. 

" . . . . /"^HIEF- JUSTICE CHASE directs me to acknowledge the re- 
\J ceipt of your letter and paper for the press. He is grateful 
for the confidence and favor with which a portion of his countrymen seem 
to regard him ; but under the rules he has prescribed to himself, cannot 
request of any journal the insertion of your communication. He directs me 
to say, moreover, that he desires no commendation through comparisons 
with statesmen or soldiers whom the people honor. Under no circum- 
stances could he sanction any disparagement of General Grant or any of the 
brave men who shared in labors and achievements by which, so far as mil- 
itary service was concerned, the integrity of the republic was vindicated 
and saved. Their honor and renown are public treasures, which he would 
gladly augment, but by no means diminish. ..." 

Mr. Chase to Colonel William B. Tlwmas, Philadelphia. ( 

" Washington, March 10, 1868: 

" .... I am much obliged to you for your letter and for your views of 
the situation, and the more so because it makes no reference whatever to 
the impeachment. To be sure, I expected no such reference in a letter 
from you ; but there are so many, and persons of sense, too, who think it 
necessary and proper to advise me on that subject, that I could not help 
noticing the absence of it in youi' letter. If the correspondents who favor 
me with such letters could only be made aware that they are never read, 
but consigned to the waste-basket as soon as their subject is ascertained, 
they would, doubtless, save themselves some labor. ■ 

" As to political matters, I take only the interest of a citizen who loves 
his country and desires earnestly the speediest possible restoration to all 
the benefits of union of the ex-rebel States on the basis of equal rights secured 
by equal suffrage. Whatever I may have formerly thought or even desired 
in connection with the presidency, I wish now to have my name complete- 



THE IMPEACHMENT. 575 

ly disconnected from it. I am satisfied that I am not a suitable- candidate 
for either party. My ojiinions on the leading questions of the day are well 
known, or may be inferred, without difficulty, from my public acts. On 
some matters, intimately connected with those leading questions, I shall, 
probably be obliged to pass judicially. And I cannot be a party judge. 
I must express my honest opinions of the Constitution and the law. I 
must do my duty without fear and without favor. Thus acting, it is not 
likely that my judgments will gratify the wishes of party on either hand. 
Hence, I prefer to keep clear of all personal interest in political contests. 

" A year ago — even six months ago — I did not anticipate the present 
condition of affairs. But impeachment has come ; the constitutionality of 
trials of civilians, in the late rebel States, by military commissions is before 
the com't ; new doctrines are promulgated by Republican as well as Dem- 
ocratic conventions, of disregard to public faith, and, in respect to these, 
the question of the constitutionality of the legal-tender law assumes new 
importance. And in regard to all these matters I have a not imimportant 
voice. I jjrefer, in this state of things, to dismiss every thought which 
might incline the scale of judgment either way. Do what I may, I cannot 
hope to escape imputations. I hope only to avoid giving any just occasion 
for them. The rest I cheerfully leave to Him who alone judgeth right- 
eously. ..." 

To J. K Snodgrass, New Yorlc. 

"Washinqtok, March 16, 18G8. 

" .... I have been a steady friend to the congressional policy of re- 
construction so far as it contemplated equal rights for all, secured by equal 
constitutions and laws. But I do not believe in military domination any 
more than I do in a slaveholding oligarchy ; nor do I believe that any 
thing has been accomplished by military supremacy in the rebel States 
that could not have been as well, if not better, accomplished by civil 
supremacy, authorized and regulated by Congress, with military subordi- 
nation. But I prefer even military domination for a time, itself controlled 
and directed by Congress, with an honest reference to restoration of the 
States to full participation in the government, with suffrage secured to all 
who will not seek to withhold it from others, to any such plan as that pro- 
posed by the President. 

" While I have condemned the President's attempt to impose on the 
colored popidation of the South the rule of the ex-rebel population, and 
his hos.tility to congressional reconstruction, I have not thought it neces- 
sary to revile him. I do not quarrel with people about matters in which 
I differ from them. I like manly and frank dealing even between the ex- 
tremest political opponents, I have, therefore, called on the President 
when ofiicial propriety has required, and three or four of these occasions 
have been at his request ; others have been on public occasions. Once, 
and once only, have I called to serve, if I could, old Mends who had done 
faithful service in the war. On several occasions when I have met the 



576 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

President, public matters have been the theme of conversation ; and I be- 
lieve I never failed in what I thought my duty on such occasions, I 
urged him by every argument that I could think of to abandon his oppo- 
sition to congressional reconstruction, and to universal suffrage, 

" I do not deny that sympathy with him had something to do with my 
action. I remembered his loyalty at the outset of the war and his patriot- 
ism all through it, and I urged him to retrace his steps. But I could do 
nothing, I believe, however, that he saw that my purpose was an honest 
purpose, and not actuated by personal hostility, and therefore felt a cer- 
tain degree of respect and perhaps regard for me. It was not enough to 
induce him to spare my friends from removal, but it led him, doubtless, 
to pay me the compliment of attending a reception of rhine, to which 
newspaper reference has been made. 

" Now, that is all of my intercourse with the President. I tell you for 
your own satisfaction and information. Let it go no farther. I will not 
defend myself against calumny except by my acts. 

" And in the present heated temper of the public mind I cannot hope 
to escape a great deal of honest censure. My duties are judicial. What 
I honestly believe the Constitution and laws sanction or condemn, that 
I must, fearless of consequences, sanction or condemn, I am of no party 
on the bench. If I believe an act, or part of an act, of a Kepublican Con- 
gress to be unconstitutional, I must say so. If a man whom Eepublicans 
would gladly see condemned, has rights, and I must judge, the rights shall 
be respected. And so of the Democrats. I expect to please neither at all 
times. But, God helping me, I will do my duty, sorry only that limited 
powers do not allow me to do it better, ..." 

To Gerrit Smithy Peterboro\ New York. 

" Washington, April 2, 1868, 

" , , , , The subject of the presidency has become distasteful to me. 
Some will say, ' sour grapes ; ' and there may be some ground for the ap- 
plication of the proverb. But I really think that I am not half so ambi- 
tious of place as I am represented to' be. Certainly, I never used any of 
the ordinary means to get place. I worked for ideas and principles, and 
measures embodying them, and with all citizens of like faith and aims ; 
and was always quite willing to take place, or be left out of place, as the 
cause, in the judgment of its friends, required. And I am certainly en- 
tirely content, now, to be left out of consideration in connection with the 
presidency. . . . 

" My position is peculiarly difficult. As the Chief-Justice, my whole 
duties, except in the single case of impeachment, connect me with another 
body. Coming into the Senate to preside, I feel and am felt as a sort of 
foreigi\ element. The Senate, like all other bodies, has a good deal of esprit 
du corps. I, as Chief-Justice, look for my powers and duties in the Consti- 
tution, and very naturally disagree as to their nature and extent from many 



THE PRESIDENT'S OATH. 577 

Senators. So far, these diflferences have been attended by no disagreeable 
result. The majority has substantially sustained my views, and I have 
tried to avoid every claim which could be, as I thought, called in ques- 
tion. 

" Mr. Sumner's motion, yesterday, alarmed me. The question, how- 
ever, forced itself upon me : ' What will be my duty in case the Senate 
deny me the casting vote which belongs to the President of the 
Senate, sitting as -a court of impeachment, so refusing, in effect, to 
recognize my right to preside ? ' Happily, I was not compelled to decide 
this question. " 



• • 



" Washington, April 19, 1868. 

" . . . . Many thanks for your two kind notes and for the article on 
the casting vote in which you so admirably stated the true doctrine. 
Nettie also desires to thank you for your remembrance of her, and I in- 
close her note. 

" The trial of the President draws toward its end. The evidence will 
doubtless be closed to-morrow, and it is not improbable that the first 
speech on the part of the managers will be made. If the Senate adheres 
to its resolution to allow only two arguments on each side, I do not see 
how the discussion can be protracted beyond the week, unless the Senate 
retire for consultation among themselves. 

" To me the whole business seems wrong, and if I had any option I 
woiijd not take part in it. But the President is on trial, and the Consti- 
tution is express that ' when the President is tried, the Chief- Justice shall 
preside.' 

" Nothing is clearer to my mind than that acts of Congress not war- 
ranted by the ConstitutioA. are not laws. In case a law believed by the 
President to be unwarranted is passed, notwithstanding his veto, by the 
required two-thirds majority, it seems to me that it is his duty to execute 
it precisely as if he held it to be constitutional, except in the case where 
it directly attacks and impairs the Executive power confided to him by 
the Constitution. In that case it seems to me to be the clear duty of the 
President to disregard the law, so far at least as it may be necessary in 
order to bring the question of its constitutionality before the judicial tri- 
bimals. 

" Until the late rebellion a broad distinction has always been taken be- 
tween the oath of office required of the President and the oath required of 
other officers. That of the President is prescribed by the Constitution 
itself: ' I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of 
President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, 
protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.' That of other 
officers was prescribed by law — the first ever enacted under the Constitu- 
tion — and follows almost literally its direction : ' I do solemnly swear that 
I will support the Constitution of the United States.' 

" The Test-Oath Act of 1863 introduced for the first time into the oath 
37 



578 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

to be administered to other officers than the President the word ' defend ' 
in addition to the word ' support.' 

" How can the President fulfill his oath to preserve, protect, and defend 
the Constitution, if he has no right to defend it against an act of Congress 
sincerely believed by him to have been passed in violation of it ? 

" To me, therefore, it seems perfectly clear that the President had a 
perfect right, and indeed was under the highest obligation, to remove Mr. 
Stanton, if he made the removal not in wanton disregard of a constitu- 
tional law, but with a sincere belief that the Tenure-of-Office Act was un- 
constitutional and for the purpose of bringing the question before the 
Supreme Court. Plainly it was a proper and peaceful, if not the only 
proper and peaceful mode of protecting and defending the Constitution. 

" I was groatly disappointed and pained, therefore, when the Senate 
yesterday excluded the evidence of members of the Cabinet as to their con- 
sultations and decisions (in some of which Mr. Stanton took a concurring 
part), and the advice given to the President in pursuance thereof. I could 
conceive of no evidence more proper to be received or more appropriate to 
enlighten a court as to the intent with which the act was done ; and ac- 
cordingly ruled that it was admissible. 

" The vote, I fear, indicated a purpose which, if carried into effect, will 
not satisfy the American people, unless they are prepared to admit that 
Congress is above the Constitution. 

" Have you looked at the questions, whether in the event of conviction 
the President ^ro tempore of the Senate is an ' officer' who, under the Con- 
stitution, can ' act as President ? ' and "whether, if such an officer, he must 
remain such while acting as President ? My own mind answers the last 
question in the affirmative, and inclines to the negative on the first. 

" It seems to me that you ought to give the public the American view 
of these questions, if you can find time to consider them. ..." 

To Alexander Long^ Esq., Cincinnati. 

"Washington, April 19, 186S. 

" . . . . My reply to your last note has been somewhat delayed. My 
time, as you may readily imagine, is much occupied. 

" It appears to me quite unlikely that such a union as is essential to 
success can be brought about among those who agree in opposition to 
military commissions and military ascendency in the Government. 

" The Democratic party, no doubt, could insure such a union by pro- 
claiming anew its old creed of equal and exact justice for all men, and de- 
claring itself for the full restoration of the States, now unrepresented, on 
the basis of universal suffrage and universal amnesty, but against military 
government and military commissions, and the whole train of related doc- 
trines, such as State suicide. State subjugation, confiscation, and the like. 
Of such a union, if brought about, I should certainly desire the success, 
I should wish as earnestly now as I did in 1849 for the success of the 



SUFFRAGE A>fD AMNESTY. 579 

Democracy, united on such a basis. I could not wish otherwise and be 
faithful to my antecedents. 

" With these sentiments I should not be at liberty to refuse the use of 
my name in the contingency you refer to. I see, however, very slight in- 
dications that such a contingency will occur ; and I have, 'certainly, no 
desire for a nomination. I greatly prefer to remain disconnected from all 
political responsibilities, save that of casting my vote. 

"I have no doubt, however, that such a union as you desii'e would be 
attended with complete success. Nor is there any reason stronger than 
prejudice why it should not take place. The restoration of the Southern 
States on the basis of universal suffrage is now certain. Every one of 
them will have adopted constitutions recognizing the right of every citi- 
zen, not disfranchised, to vote, before the present Congress ends ; most of 
them certainly, and all of them probably, before the presidential election. 
The united Democracy, frankly conceding the permanence of these consti- 
tutions and the rights of suffrage secured by them, and appealing to the 
sentiments of justice and generosity and enlightened interest for universal 
amnesty and the removal of all political disfranchisements, could carry two- 
thirds, if not more, of those States ; whereas, without the union suggested, 
and upon old issues, the Democratic party can hardly hope to carry one of 
them, and its success seems impossible. ..." 

To Theodore Tilton, New York. I 

"Washington, April 19, 1863^ V 

". . . . Your article under the caption, 'A Folded Banner,' was very 
different from any thing which your conversation with me foreshadowed. 

"Tou visited me at my house and invited a conversation. I was glad 
to see you, as I always have been ; and my esteem for you and trust in 
you were such that I talked with you very freely. I little thought that I 
was on trial before an editor, and that he was about to pronounce a sen- 
tence upon me, ex cathedra^ according to the supposed result of his investi- 
gations. Had I been aware of that, I should probably have followed a 
great military example, and observed a prudent silence. 

" I had seen, with perfect content, so far as I was concerned, the Re- 
publican preference concentrating upon General Grant. I had observed 
also, new shibboleths of Republican faith, invented and demanded, in the 
hot contentions of the time, which I could not frame my lips to jDronounce. 
I felt, therefore, that whatever might be my obligation to support Repub- 
lican candidates, because of my agreement with the majority of the party 
on the great point of equal rights protected by equal suflfrage, I could not 
myself properly represent it as its candidate. And I said to you that I 
could not take the Republican nomination if I could have it. I knew I 
could not have it, even were General Grant out of the way, if I proclaimed 
my opinions on impeachment, military commissions, military government, 
and the like ; and I wanted no nomination with concealed or unavowed 



580 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

opinions ; and, indeed, wanted no nomination at all. For this reason, I 
said I would not take the Republican nomination if I could have it. I 
had said it to nobody else. I said it to you because I felt like saying it, 
and thought you knew me well enough to believe me. I certainly never 
dreamed of a proclamation by you in the Independent, based ujDon it. I 
knew very well that everybody who should think I had made such a dec- 
laration to you, and did not know me intimately, would characterize it, 
coming as it must have come, from one who knew he had not the least 
chance of receiving the nomination, in very uncomplimentary terms. 

" I was still more surprised by your confident expression that I would 
accept the Democratic nomination. I refused to say to you that I would 
not accept it. But I did not say that I would ; nor did I say any thing 
to that effect. I have never sought or expected it. I have never thought 
it in the least degree likely that it would be offered to me. It would have 
been ridiculous in me to say that I would not accept what had not been 
offered, and was not likely to be. It would have savored strongly of a van- 
ity and presumption justly offensive, and from which, at least, I hope I am 
free. What you said led me to suppose that you agreed with me in opin- 
ion, that the Chief-Justice, presiding in the Senate, has the same right as 
the Vice-President when presiding in that body, and I stated my wish 
that you would express that opinion in the Independent. You said you 
would, and your article does contain a sentence to that effect. 

" For this, and for your declaration that I am not likely to abandon 
any of the ideas and principles on which, I suppose, your former prefer- 
ence was based, I beg you to accept my thanks. I regret that you saw fit 
to withdraw that preference with such a flourish of trumpets. You might 
have said, with truth, that I was neither candidate nor aspirant for any 
nomination ; and that the Independent did not think it useful to urge any 
further consideration of my name. I do not think you had any right to 
make any other inference from my conversation with you : and if the con- 
versation did warrant any other inference by you, I do not think you had 
a right to use a private conversation for the purpose of making it. . . . " 

To Bichard Gaines^ Esq. 

"Washington, May 5, 186S. 

" . . . . Your kind note reached me a day or two since. It was very 
pleasant to hear from you ; for the days when a few of us were united in a 
seemingly insignificant minority, by a common devotion to what we 
sincerely believed to be a good and noble cause, are very fresh in my 
remembrance. I have made no friends since for whom I cherish a warmer 
attachment than for those of that time. 

" I was a Democrat then ; too democratic for the Democratic party of 
those days, for I admitted no exception on account of race or color or con- 
dition, to the impartial application of democratic principles to all meas- 
ures and to all men. Such a Democrat I am to-day. 



THE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL. 581 

" But I am not a candidate nor an aspirant for any political office ; nor 
do I see any reason for thinking that the people will ever again require my 
services in any political cajjacity, 

" As a citizen, however, I shall always be ready to aid, so far as I prop- 
erly may, 'with malice toward none, with charity toward all,' in the 
complete restoration of the States lately in rebellion, to full participation 
in all the benefits of the Union on the basis of equal rights secured by 
equal suffrage, I fervently desire the renewed prosperity of those States, 
and of all their citizens. Restoration on this basis is just now the most 
important object of political efforts; but there are others which seem to be 
hardly less important. I refer particularly to making the currency good 
enough to pay all debts whether to bond-holders or working-men, and to 
resistance to the attempts which have lately become so alarming, to sub- 
jugate the Executive and Judicial Departments of the Government to the 
unlimited control of the Legislature, and to subvert the regular order of 
the administration of criminal justice by substituting, at the discretion 
of Congress, military commissions for trials by jury in time of peace. 

" With these views you will readily imagine that I am quite content to 
be regarded as an outsider by both the great political parties which now 
divide the country ; and to preserve my independence in a non-political 
station. 

" This, my old friend, is entirely for your own satisfaction, and not for 
any printer. ..." 

To Horace Oreeley. 

" Washington, ifay 19, 1S68. 

" .... I am very sorry to see in the Tribune of yesterday a statement 
that ' He ' — the Chief- Justice — ' decided the vote of Mr. Van Winkle. He 
did his utmost — happily in vain — to carry off Messrs. Anthony and Sprague. 
We doubt that Mr. Henderson would have voted as he did but for the 
Chief-Justice's exertions.' 

" I appeal from Horace Greeley thus informed to Horace Greeley better 
informed. More lies seem to be afloat about me than I thought invention 
capable of. I have not interchanged a word with Mr. Van Winkle on the 
subject of impeachment that I remember, and my acquaintance with him 
is very slight. I have not exerted myself to influence anybody one way 
or the other. Until yesterday, when I happened to fall in with him on 
the street, all my conversation with Anthony would not occupy ten min- 
utes. Sprague was not influenced by me, nor did I seek to influence him. 
Henderson took his dinner — he is a near neighbor — twice with Sjjrague 
and myself during the trial, but I am sure that I gave him no advice nor 
sought in anyway to control him, and could not if I had. The stories 
about dinner are mere bosh, and so are the stories about rides, except that 
there is a grain of fact sunk in gallons of falsehood. On particular points 
in occasional talks with Senators, I have exijressed my opinion just as I 
should in talk with you, but I certainly have not sought to make converts 



582 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 

to my views, and just as certainly I had no idea when I put the question 
on the eleventh article what the result would be. I thought it doubtful 
and very doubtful, with the probability in favor of conviction. I had no 
information whatever how any Senator would vote: I mean of those who 
had not read opinions or declared them in the Senate, except of course 
that I did not doubt how Sumner, Drake, and those of that sort, would 
vote. 

" I care very little for clamor. But I have felt greatly enriched by your 
friendship and good opinion, and know I have done nothing which should 
entail the loss of either. I have kept my oath on the trial, and have done 
nothing from partiality or hostility. 

" Your article of May 9th, ' Counsel in Extremity,' was just and kind, 
only overrating me. I have not made a step from my platform and your plat- 
form of universal suffrage and universal amnesty, I am looking for noth- 
ing in the political way. I believe myself to be, as you say, * a thorough 
democrat, according to the true definition of that much- abused term,' and 
nothing would more rejoice my heart than to see the Democratic party re- 
forming its policy to democratic ideas and principles. I do not expect it 
to do so this year ; but it may, for this is a day of revolution. Whether it 
does s6 or not, I ask nothing from it or from any other party. 

" Perhaps there is little use in writing this note. In the tempest there 
is little chance of hearing. And when this note reaches you, the shouts 
from Chicago will be filling your ears. 

" So let me end by assming you that I am in no whit changed in my 
devotion to the ideas and principles which you have approved, and that I 
can never change in my gratitude for your friendship — not joast, I hope — 
and for the support with which you have aided me in my endeavors to 
serve the country. ..." 

* 

To Murat Halstead^ Cincinnati. 

"Washw&tox, May 22, 186S. 

" . . . . Your note is just received. I have no concern with third par- 
ties, or with first or second parties. To make and immake parties is the 
work of the people. Politicians can't do it, and theii* attempts to do it are 
always failures. . . . 

" I dare say I may have said that proscription of the Republican Sen- 
ators would be ' likely ' or ' sure ' to result in the organization of a new 
party. If I said ' sure,' I was too fast. If T, said ' likely,' I only stated what 
then seemed highly probable, I did not refer to a third party, however ; 
but to a coming together upon the common ground of opposition to the 
tyranny of the dominant majority in the House of Representatives of all not 
interested in its support. All that I am reported to have said about myself 
and the Democratic party is mere bosh. I certainly do wish that the Demo- 
cratic party would consent to be democratic ; but I neither seek nor want 
any nomination. I have neither the ambition nor the vanity which some 



THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION. 583 

unambitious and very modest gentlemen are pleased continually to ascribe 
to me. It amazes me to see how a simple endeavor to be absolutely impar- 
tial in conducting a great trial is magnified into lofty virtue on one side, 
and stigmatized as political recreancy on the other. I suppose there is no 
man in the country who had less personal interest in the result than my- 
self. And my interest as a citizen was balanced between hopes of good, 
in the event of conviction, through the assured success of reconstruction on 
the basis of equal rights for all, and the fear of evil present and to come, 
from the strain to which in the same event, all our institutions would be 
subjected in consequence of the transfer, under the dictation of the House 
of Representatives, of the executive power from the President elected by* 
the people to the President pro tempore of the Senate." 

To Hiram Barney, Esq., New YorTc. 

"Washington, May 29, 186S. 

" . . . . You are right in what you say about my views. My convic- 
tions are fairly represented by my record, and I cannot change them. I be- 
lieve I could refuse the throne of the world if it were offered me at the 
price of abandoning the cause of equal rights and exact justice to all men. 
Indeed, * what should it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his 
own soul ? ' 

"Nothing would gratify me more than to see the Democratic party ad- 
vance its standards to the full height of a true expression of democratic 
ideas. What a grand and noble organization it would then be ! 1 hope it 
will make some advance this year ; but it is not likely, I think, to take 
any such step as that of nominating a man of my ideas for the presidency 
without seeking so to trammel him that he would be as unavailable as any 
mere party nominee. 

" This morning I had an unexpected visit from a very protninent Demo- 
cratic gentleman of Maryland. He expressed a strong wish that my name 
might be presented for the suffrages of the people, and was anxious that it 
might be brought forward in advance of the meeting of the convention, 
that it might be either sanctioned there or accepted by an omission of the 
convention to make any nomination. There seems to be an intense anxiety 
to get rid of military domination, military commissions, and of all the ten- 
dencies now rife toward subversion of the Executive and Judicial Depart- 
ments of the Government ; and a willingness that surprises me to take me 
with my known views on the question of equal rights without regard to 
race or color, for the sake of those other objects in respect to which my 
views harmonize with theirs. I mentioned to this gentleman that we prob- 
ably disagreed as to the right of the colored people to vote, and his man- 
ner even more than his words showed how he felt ; and yet, with all his 
repugnance to universal suffrage, he persisted in saying that he believed 
my nomination at this time was the very best thing that could be done for 
the country. 



584 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" Such indications as that of this visit, and very many such that reach 
me from various parts of the country, certainly surprise me. They are not 
sufficiently numerous to excite expectations of immediate important conse- 
quences, Ijut they afford ground for hope that a change is going on in the 
views and policy of the Democratic party which warrants good hopes of 
the future. That future will include nothing political for me, but much 
good of all sorts for our country. 






To August Belmont, Esq., New YorTc. 

" WAsmNGTON, May 80, 1S68. 

" .... It would show a want both of sensibility and sense if I, did 
not reply to your frank and generous letter of yesterday at once and with- 
out reserve. 

" For more than a quarter of a century I have been, in my political 
views and sentiments, a Democrat ; and I still think that, upon questions 
of finance, commerce, and administration generally, the old Democratic 
principles afford the best guidance. 

" What separated me, in former times, from both parties was the depth 
and positiveness of my convictions on the slavery question. On that ques- 
tion I thought the Democratic party failed to make a just application of 
democratic principles, and regarded myself as more democratic than the 
Democrats. ... 

" In 1849 I was elected to the Senate by the united votes of the Old- 
line Democrats and the Independent Democrats, and subsequently made 
earnest efforts to bring about a union of all Democrats on the ground of 
the limitation of slavery to the States in which it then existed and non- 
intervention with slavery in those Statea by Congress. Had that union 
been effected it is my firm belief that the country would have escaped the 
late civil war and all its evils. I wish you could find time to read a letter 
of mine to the Democratic Speaker of our Ohio House of Representatives 
written at that time. It is printed in the Congressional Olobe of 1849-50, 
part i., page 135,* in connection with a speech of Mr. Butler, of South Caro- 
lina, and it will give a clearer idea of what I then thought and still think, 
than I can convey in a letter. 

" The slavery question, as you say, is now settled. It has received a 
terrible solution ; but it has a successor in the question of reconstruction, 
and this question partakes largely the nature of that. 

" I never favored interference by Congress with slavery in the States ; 
but as a war measure Mr. Lincoln's proclamation of emancipation had my 
hearty assent ; and I united, as a member of his Administration, in the 
pledge it made to maintain the freedom of the enfranchised people. 

"This pledge has been partly redeemed by the constitutional amend- 
ment prohibiting slavery throughout the United States ; but its perfect 

* This letter will be found on page 101 of this volume. It is addressed to John 
G. Breslin. 



SUFFRAGE AND RECONSTRUCTION. 585 

fulfillment requires, in my judgment, the assurance of the right of suffrage 
to those whom the Constitution has made freemen and citizens. 

" Hence I have been and am in favor of so much of the reconstruction 
policy of Congress as bases the reorganization of the State Governments 
in the South upon universal suffrage. 

" I do not doubt the authority of the national Government under that 
clause of the Constitution which requires the United States to guarantee 
to each State in the Union a republican form of government, to provide for 
the reestablishment of such governments by the people of the several States 
whose governments were disorganized by rebellion. I think that Presi- 
dent Johnson was right in regarding the Southern States, except Virginia 
and Tennessee, as being, at the close of the war, without governments, 
without governors, judges, legislators, or other State functionaries; but 
wrong in limiting, by his reconstruction proclamations, the right of 
suffrage to whites and only such whites as had the qualifications he re- 
quired. 

" On the other hand, as it seems to me. Congress was right in not limit- 
ing, by its reconstruction acts, the right of suffrage to whites ; but wrong 
in the exclusion from sufirage of certain classes of citizens and all unable 
to take its prescribed retrospective oath, and wrong also in the establish- 
ment of despotic military governments for the States and in authorizing 
military commissions for the trial of civilians in time of peace. There 
should have been as little military government as possible ; no military 
commissions ; no classes excluded from suffrage ; and no oath except one 
of faithful obedience and support to the Constitution and laws, and of sin- 
cere attachment to the constitutional Government of the United States. 

" But it has been and is impossible to get these reconstruction acts 
amended ; nor is it desirable, in my opinion, to delay the restoration of 
these States to their proper places in the Union under the constitutions 
recently adopted in some of them apd likely soon to be adopted in the 
others. The colored people of the South are unanimous in their desire for 
such restoration, because these constitutions secure to them the right of 
sufirage and thereby the means of self-protection against injustice. And 
there seems no reason to aijprehend that any class of white citizens will be 
prejudiced by such restoration. 

" I have considerable information concerning the feelings of Southern 
colored voters ; and, if the white citizens hitherto prominent in afiairs will 
simply recognize their right of suffrage and assure them against .future 
attempts to take it from them, I am sure that those citizens will be wel- 
comed back to their old lead with joy and acclamation. Nor do I doubt 
that if the Democratic party will give such assurance in any way that they 
can understand and rely on, a majority if not all the Southern States may 
be carried for the Democratic candidates at the next election. 

"I am glad to know that many intelligent Southern Democrats agree 
with me in these views, and are willing to accept universal suffrage and 



586 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

universal amnesty as the basis of reconstruction and restoration. They 
see that the shortest way to revive prosperity — possible only -with con- 
tented industry — is universal suffrage now and universal amnesty and re- 
moval of all disabilities as speedily as possible through the action of the 
State and national Governments. 

" I have long been a believer in the wisdom and justice of securing the 
right of suffrage to all citizens. It is the best guarantee of the stability 
of institutions and the prosperity of communities. My views of this sub- 
ject were well known when the Democrats elected me to the Senate in 
1849. It was also known, I suppose, that I had no desire to force them 
into premature and useless discussion, but was quite content with holding 
them and declaring them on proper occasions as my personal opinions 
without making them or having ojiposite opinions made a political test. 

" I have said too much, perhaps, on this subject ; but I could not hon- 
orably answer such a letter as yours, and leave any room for misapprehen- 
sion. ... I am no believer in military governments for any of the States, 
nor in military commissions for the trial of civilians in time of peace ; nor 
in arbitrary government of any kind. I long most earnestly for the re- 
moval, by acts of genuine kindness and sincere good-will, of all traces of 
the uukiudness and the ill-will which have sprung from the rebellion and 
hinder real union and true prosperity. I would eradicate if possible every 
root of bitterness, I want to see the Union and the Constitution reestab- 
lished in the affections of all the people. And I think that the initiative 
should be taken by the successful side in the late struggle. Let magna- 
nimity attend success and benefits console defeat. Toward these ends I am 
willing to do all I can in office and out of ofiice, with a party or without 
a party. 

" I have now answered your letter as I think I ought to answer it. I 
beg you to believe me — for I say it in all sincerity — that I do not desire 
the ofiice of President nor a nomination for it. Nor do I know that, with 
my views and convictions, I am a suitable candidate for any party. Of 
that my countrymen must judge. If they think fit to require such ser- 
vices as I can render, they are, without doubt, entitled to them. If they 
have no requisition to make upon me, I shall be entirely content. ..." 

To James Lyon, Bsq., Biclimoncl. 

" Washington, June 18, 1868. 

" .... I reply with as little delay as possible to your kind note of 
the 16th. 

" What I said at your table was without affectation. I do not desire a 
nomination for the presidency. I have therefore written no letters for pub- 
lication, for such letters would be regarded as evidence of such a desire. 

" In conversation, however, and in some private letters, my views have 
been freely stated ; and I have no objection to say to you what I think on 
the topics mentioned in your letter ; and you are quite at liberty to quote 



AMNESTY AND SUFFRAGE. 587 

•what I say to such gentlemen as you see fit, but I do not want to go into 
print at this time. 

" And first, of universal sufirage. I am, as you supposed, in favor of 
it as the best security of popular institutions, and the surest guarantee of 
general prosperity. It seems to me especially desirable in the Southern 
States to insure a contented and industrious laboring population, and to 
remove all distrust felt by the colored citizens of their former masters and 
of the educated classes to •which they (the masters) generally belong, and 
in this ■way bring the ability and character of the South once more into 
the lead. But •while this is my personal judgment, I ■welcome gladly 
every advance to^ward the general object by free concessions of impartial, 
if not universal, sufirage. 

" Of the reference of the suffrage question to the States, there can be 
no doubt in general of its ■wisdom and expediency. I am not prepared, 
ho^wever, to say that Congress, under the thirteenth and fourteenth amend- 
ments, should the latter be ratified, as now seems certain, will not have 
any powers in relation to sufirage in the States, nor can I say that in those 
States whose governments became involved in the war, the question of 
restoration, at its close, could not be j^roperly referred to the whole body 
of citizens without distinction of color. Whether Vii'giuia was one of the 
States ■without a government, when the war ended, in which the national 
Government was not bound to recognize the actual as a valid and sub- 
sisting government, may well be questioned. 

" Of the wisdom, and indeed of the necessity of a general amnesty and 
of the removal of all disabilities imposed on the people of the Southern 
States, I have no doubt whatever. Complete reconciliation between those 
who adhered to the national Government and those -who sought to estab- 
lish an independent confederate government, is indispensable to national 
tranquillity and prosperity, and the policy of amnesty and removal of 
disabilities will contribute largely to this reconciliation. It will, more- 
over, bring into useful public service a vast amount of intellect, character, 
and patriotism, now excluded from it. 

" The restoration of all the States to the Union, with the abolition of 
all military government and control, should take place as speedily as pos- 
sible. It never seemed to me necessary, in order to the reorganization of 
the State governments, to put any of the Southern States under military 
government, and such government is certainly unwarranted by the genius 
of American institutions. And much more even are military commissions 
to try civilians in time of peace to be condemned. 

" I am exceedingly anxious for the restoration of prosperity, and its 
increase beyond all former example, in the Southern States. It is my firm 
belief that a frank and full recognition by the educated classes of the col- 
ored citizens' right to vote will prove the very best means of bringing 
about this result. This recognition will insure a speedy general amnesty 
and the removal of all disabilities. Suffrage will give ^assurance of safety 
and protection to labor ; amnesty will provide men fit for public trusts. 



588 I'IFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Can there be any thing better ? "Will not patriots bury the past, recog- 
nize the present, and provide for the future ? . . . " 

To William C. Bryant^ New Torlc. 

•' Washington, June 19, 1868. 

" . . . . The movement for my nomination has taken me entirely by 
surprise, and I cannot even now persuade myself of the reality of it ; or, 
rather, I do not think it will develop into such strength as will j^roduce 
any important result in the action of the convention of the Fourth. It is 
pretty obvious that a large number of the Northern Democrats are wearied 
of the formulas under which, for the last ten years, they have been led to 
defeat; and that very many of the Southern men long for peace and 
restoration on almost any terms which will insure to them amnesty and 
comj)lete removal of disabilities, and which are not in themselves dishon- 
orable. All these would gladly accept me as a candidate, believing that, 
through the election of a citizen holding my ideas of restoration, on the 
basis of universal suffrage and universal amnesty, peace and prosjierity 
would be most certainly restored to the country, and the party so estab- 
lished upon true Democratic principles, as to afford just hope of a con- 
tinued ascendency, unless forfeited by corruption and maladministration 
hereafter. 

" But to these progressives in the Democratic party a large body of 
the Democrats are very hostile ; and these anti-progressives will, most 
probably, control the convention ; and another period of four years' mi- 
nority will probably be necessary to bring the progressives into the as- 
cendency. 

" So you perceive that it is not likely to be at all in my power to exer- 
cise any material influence upon the platform to be adopted next month. 
Nobody now, I am glad to find, expects me to desert the original applica- 
tion of democratic ideas which I have ever labored to make real in the 
Government. This application might be sufficiently assured by the incor- 
poration into the platform of one of two forms of expression — either resto- 
ration on the basis of universal suffrage and universal amnesty, without 
any declaration, one way or the other, about suffrage in the States ; or, 
recognition of the fact that universal suffrage is a democratic principle, 
the application of which is to be left in the States, under the Constitu- 
tion, to the States themselves, without saying any thing more about resto- 
ration, except to declare in favor of general amnesty and the removal of 
all disabilities on account of insurrection. Upon a platform in either of 
these forms of expression, I might, I suppose, honorably accept a nomina- 
tion ; and I have no doubt that this practical settlement of the question 
would' be hailed with great satisfaction as the harbinger of restored union, 
and peace, and prosperity. It is hardly extravagant to say that such 
action as this would be speedily followed by a large advance in the value 
of property throughout the South. On all other questions there is no sub- 



THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 589 

stantial difference between me and other Democrats wlio do not i)ropose 
repudiation. 

" I do not expect any result personal to myself from the action of the 
Fourth-of-July Convention. If any comes, it will surprise me not less 
than the movement which has already taken place. The movement itself, 
however, will not be without result. It has shown a liberality and pro- 
gressiveness of sentiment among Democrats which cannot fail to have an 
ausjjicious influence upon the future ; and it has given to the country a 
better knowledge than it has hitherto had of my true character and senti- 
ment, and will enable me hereafter to speak to the Southern educated 
classes on the great questions which especially concern their status with 
freedom, and with a respectful and, very often, a kindly hearing. It may 
enable me in this way to do as much real good as I could do in a higher 
position. With this I ought to be, and I shall be, content. ..." 

To Colonel Alexander Long^ at New York. 

""Washington, July 4, 186S. 

" . . . . My self-respect is worth more to me than fifty presidencies. 
Without the nomination I shall sleep more soundly than with it. To sur- 
render my consciousness of doing right by binding myself in advance to, 
I know not what, is simj)ly impossible for me. If it were possible, it 
would prove me imworthy of the trust and confidence of my countiy- 
men. ..." 

To Colonel John D. Van Buren, New YorTc. 

" Washington, July 5, 1868. 

"... .1 have never in my life bound myself to the support of un- 
known candidates upon an unknown platform, nor have I ever asked such 
promises from anybody. 

" I see in the Messager-Americain of to-day that the Evening Post had an 
article last evening, intimating some apprehension that I might be induced 
by desire for the nomination to pledge myself to any platform and to any 
candidate. I would not on any account forfeit Mr. Bryant's good opin- 
ion. Between the good opinion of such men and the presidency my choice 
would be easily made. The presidency would kick the beam forthwith. 
And I do not want even to seem to err in that way. ..." 

To Mr. Schuckers^ at New YorTc. 

Washinqton, July 6, 1863. 

" . . . . You know how little I have desired a nomination, and how 
averse I have been to making any effort to secure it. I have felt all along 
that it could not be tendered to me upon any platform which would al- 
low good hope of considerable acce^ions from among the Republicans ; 
and, without that hope, any other person might as well be nominated as 
me. And I shall feel more than contented with the memory of the move- 
ment in my favor — so spontaneous and so remarkable, though without re- 



590 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

suits. No matter liovv tlie convention goes, this manifestation, without 
asking any modification of my views on the questions of suffrage and 
debt — good faith to the laboring masses, white and black, and good faith 
to the national creditors : this manifestation, I say, proves a vast advance 
in the sentiments of the party, especially of its younger and more pro- 
gressive wing : and if I were a little younger and unembarrassed by con- 
nection with the court, I should like nothing better than to lead this wing 
to ascendency and the party to victory. With such an element in the 
party, its leadership is both honorable and desirable. ..." 



To Colonel John D. Tan Buren, New York. 

"Washington, July 8, 1868. 

". . . . I have seen only the telegraphic abstract of the j)latform. It is, 
in the main, very good. I take it for granted, however, that it contemplates 
no action by the General Government for the overthrow of governments in 
any States from which Senators and Eepresentatives are admitted to seats 
in Congress, and I must not be understood as expressing any opinion on 
questions of constitutional law, which may come before the courts. I must 
add that I shall be more gratified if the choice of the convention falls 
upon either of the distinguished names before it, than if it falls upon my 
own. ..." 

To Mr. SchucJcers, at Bedford Springs. 

" Naeeagansett, July 20, 1868. 

". . . . No man can be more grateful than I am to such friends as 
those you name ; but not one of them, I am sure, would desire to have me 
commit myself to any thing or anybody at the risk of my personal honor 
and integrity. My nomination was desired for the sake of bringing the 
Democratic party into a just and generous assertion of democratic ideas, 
which would enable it to command success. Except as the representative 
of such ideas, my name was of no value to the party or my friends in it, 
and unless taken as the representative of such ideas, the nomination would 
have less than no value to me. I want this understood, and I want it 
understood also that my position removes me from active participation in 
party strife. It will be time enough for me to determine how to cast my 
vote, if I determine to vote at all, when it shall be determined whether or 
not General Blair's letter represents or does not represent the purpose of 
the controlling influences in the Democratic party, to unsettle all that has 
been settled in favor of universal sufirage by the new constitutions of the 
Southern States. 

"Under all the pressure which preceded the convention, I steadily 
maintained my own adhesion to the doctrines of universal sufirage and the 
recognition of the new constitutions as accomplished facts. I cannot now 
in any way compromise those doctrines. Joined to my other doctrine of 
vmiversal amnesty, tliey are doctrines of peace, order, contented labor, 
completed restoration and sure prosperity both North and South. ..." 



HIS POSITION m 1848. 591 

To John Colyer^ Esq., New TorK 

"Naeeagansett, August 25, 1868. 

" . . . . Some time ago I received a letter from you, marked by so ex- 
cellent a spirit that I felt prompted to reply. The reply has been delayed, 
however, until it can have no value, except as an assurance that I am not 
unmindful of what good men write me, whether in commendation or cen- 
sure. 

" I have not had any thought of going into a third-party movement. 
Nothing, in my judgment, has lately required such a movement; and I 
know too well the labors incident to political organizations to wish to 
have any thing to do with them, except upon clear convictions of duty. 
Besides, I must now leave such labors to younger men. 

" It has happened to me, as to many others, to have my name mentioned 
in connection with the presidency; and not a few persons have thought 
fit to impute to me an exceeding ambition for the place. Of that I am not 
myself conscious, though it is quite true that the distinction would have 
been a most gratifying one, and that the opportunities of usefulness would 
have been welcome, notwithstanding the risks of failure. But I have never 
been so insensible to these risks as to be at all troubled in mind because 
political conventions and the people have preferred others to myself. I 
am entii'ely satisfied now with the fact that I am not a candidate, and the 
certainty that I never shall be. 

" The hard names to which you refer as so freely bestowed upon me, 
affect me little. I espoused the cause of equal rights and exact justice for 
all men when few of those who now censure me most, were willing to 
maintain that colored Americans had any rights which white Americans 
were bound to respect. To that cause I have steadily adhered. As God has 
given me opportunity I have endeavored to be useful to my countrymen 
in the reform of the currency and in other things not directly connected 
with the fundamental princij)les of human rights. In my public service, I 
have been the object of much assault; but I do not remember that I have 
assailed anybody. Where I could not approve I have contented myself 
with disapproval without imputing bad motives or unworthy purposes. 

'' So I expect to go on, I cannot and do not approve of much which 
has had the sanction of the Republican party; and there is much also 
which has the sanction of the Democratic party that I cannot approve. 
My faith in human rights makes me a Democrat, and I cannot follow any 
lead which separates me from my principles. 

" I therefore at present prefer, and I hope ever hereafter to prefer, an 
independent position ; free to approve and to vote as I think right. I do 
not blame those who by circumstances or convictions think themselves 
obliged to strict party adhesion. I have felt this obligation myself, when 
organization seemed indispensable to the maintenance of principles which 
I thought of paramount importance. All I mean to say is, that at present 
neither of the existing political organizations seems to me thus indispen- 



593 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sable, more than the other, in any commanding degree. Thanking you for 
your letter, I beg you to receive thi3 reply in the same spirit of good-will 
as that in which you wrote. ..." 

To Colonel A. J. H. Duganne, New YorTc. 

" Nabragansett, /SepiemJer 21, 1868. 

" .... I received some days ago your kind note accompanying an in- 
vitation to address a Republican meeting in New York, My great esteem 
and respect for you, and the fear that an omission to reply to your note 
may be interpreted wrongly, induce me to write a few lines. 

" There are few if any instances in our history in which a judge of the 
Supreme Court has addressed a political assemblage ; and the precedent 
thus established is one which I am hardly at liberty, if even disposed, to 
disregard. I could not, therefore, accept the invitation which accom- 
panied your note, even if I were otherwise free to do so. 

" But I am not. I cannot approve in general what the Republican 
party has done and this is not the time for discriminations in a public ad- 
dress. I hold my old faith in universal suffrage, in reconstruction upon that 
basis, in universal amnesty, and in inviolate public faith ; but I do not be- 
lieve in military governments for American States, nor in military commis- 
sions for the trial of American citizens, nor in the subversion of the execu- 
tive and judicial departments of the general government by Congress, no 
matter how patriotic the motive may be. This is enough to explain what 
discriminations I should be compelled to make. The action of the two 
parties has obliged me to resume with my old faith my old position — nul- 
lius addictus jurare in verba majestri — that of Democrat, by the grace of 
God, free and independent. ..." 

To Colonel William Brown., Nicholasville, Kentucky. 

" Washujoton, September 29, 18G8. 
" .... I regretted nothing in your speech except its tone and tenor 
concerning Governor Seymour. I was sure, when the platform was adopted 
and interpreted on the vital question of the stability or forcible subversion 
of the accomplished work of reconstruction, by the letter and nomination 
of General Blair, that nearly all the Republicans and very many of the 
Conservatives, who were anxious to imite with the Democrats in opposition 
to the extreme measures of the Republican leaders, would be constrained 
to the support of General Grant. But it was not, and is not, my belief that 
Governor Seymour desired to have this issue made, or that he wished the 
nomination for himself. I have seen nothing in his action which makes 
me question the sincerity of his declared wishes for a different issue, and 
for another candidate. Hardly any man would have resisted the ap- 
proaches made to him by a convention which seemed to be, and perhaps 
was, unanimous, or nearly so, in demanding his consent to his own nomi- 
nation. That he did not resist may be deplored on public grounds ; but 



THE LIBERAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. 593 

my friends should not complain. I had no claim on a Democratic conven- 
tion, representing what may be called the old-line Democracy. The nom- 
ination was proposed only as a means of uniting in support of the ticket 
those in general sympathy with the Democracy on issues that have arisen 
since the war, hut who were as much as ever in favor of securing to the 
enfranchised people all the rights of men and citizens, as the best, if not 
the only means of restoring order and prosperity to the South. . . . 

" Please take this as a slight expression of what I said in my former let- 
ter and as explaining why I cannot consent to have the extract from that 
letter which you quote published. I know that Governor Seymour and 
his friends, who were also my friends, feel mvich hurt by what you said 
of him, and what others of my friends have said, and are inclined to regard 
me as in some sort responsible for those sayings ; and the publication of 
that extract, disconnected from what I wrote of him, would confirm that 
impression. So I prefer to have nothing published ; and you will, there- 
fore, treat what I have heretofore written, and what I now write, as strictly 
private. ..." 

To Demurest Lloyd, Washington. 

"NOETHWOOD, N. II., August 14, 1S72. 

" . . . . You may remember that, in our walks to and fro on the portico 
at Edgewood, I said to you more than once that I would like to see Mr. 
Greeley nominated. Since 1848 it has been my earnest desire to see the 
Democratic party purged from the taint of slavery, and applying demo ■ 
cratic principles boldly and thoroughly to all political questions. The 
adoption of the Cincinnati platform realizes that desire, and the nomina- 
tion of Greeley is a pledge of its sincerity which his election will con- 
firm. ..." 

To Demarest Lloyd, Washington. 

" Naeeagansett, E. I., September 15, 1872. 

" .... As to political matters, I have by no means lost heart, though 
results so far do not answer my hopes. The nomination was, in itself, the 
best that could be made ; but it was an experiment, and a bold one. A 
Free-Trade convention nominated the ablest, after Mr. Carey, of American 
writers in support of protection ; a Republican convention nominated a 
full Republican ticket for Democratic support, without which almost 
unanimously given, success was impossible ; a Democratic convention, de- 
parting from all party usages, nominated for Democratic support Republi- 
can candidates ! May it not well be said that it was an experiment, and a 
bold one ? To me, knowing Mr. Greeley as I" do, and feeling in him the 
confidence I do, it would be a pleasure to vote for him. I can postpone 
all differences in the full confidence that, practically, his administration 
will, in no respect, fundamentally clash with my views, while, in the im- 
portant matters of currency, amnesty, and reform, it will thoroughly har- 
monize with them. It is not surprising that others think and will act 

differently. ..." 
38 



CHAPTER LII. 

ME. chase's religion HIS SBIPLE HABITS — HOSPITALITT— HIS 

MODESTY LOVE OF TRUTH AND OF JUSTICE HIS VAST LABOR 

DESCRIPTION OF THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT — ORGANIZA- 
TION OF NEW BUREAUS RULE ABOUT WOMEN — PERSONAL 

CHARACTERISTICS HIS INTEREST IN MILITARY MATTERS — 

FINANCIAL BELIEFS AND ACCOIVIPLISHMENT — POLITICAL ACTION 
AS A MEMBER OF THE CABINET AS A LAWYER PER- 
SONAL HIS PROPERTY. 

UPOK faitli in Almiglity God, and a belief in account- 
ability in another world for tbe acts done in this, and 
those other beliefs which Protestant Christians hold to be fun- 
damental, Mr. Chase founded the maxims and the conduct of 
his life. He shrank from all ostentation in respect of his reli- 
gion, and rarely spoke of it, and indeed not very often of reh- 
gious subjects at all, and then always with an earnest and perfect- 
ly simple reverence ; but it influenced him in all his acts, both 
public and private. 

He was born in the Episcopal Church, and lived and died in 
it, though his beliefs were, in the main, of the school of Calvin. 
However, he was utterly free from any thing like intolerance, 
and had a deep aversion to disputatiousness about mattei;s in 
which religion was concerned. He one day read to me, as ex- 
pressive of his own feelings, the words of John Wesley : " I am 
weary to hear opinions. My soul loathes this frothy food. 
Give me solid and substantial religion ; give me an humble, 
gentle lover of God and man, a man full of mercy and good 
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy ; a man laying 
himself out in the work of faith, the patience of hope, the labor 



.^p^p^^ ^^^^^ 







C 
O 

o 
o 

Eh 
<1 

>- 

« 

« 






RELIGION AND HABITS. 595 

of love. Let my soul l>e witli these Christians, wheresoever 
they are, and whatsoever opinions they are of." I^evertheless, 
he was zealous for what he believed to be fundamental truth ; 
and once wrote Theodore Parker, expressing his deep " regret 
that on the great question of the Divine origin of the Bible and 
the Divine nature of Christ," the views of Mr. Parker " were so 
little in harmony with those of almost all who labor in the great 
cause of himaan enfranchisement and progress." All his years 
he was a quiet, un*obtrusive worker in religious and benevolent 
enterprises, and gave to them freely. He did not confine his 
gifts to Protestant denominations, but with a large and sincere 
admiration for the Catholic Church, gave to Catholic charities 
also. 

II. He was simple and inexpensive in his habits, and dressed 
with unvarying plainness. He dishked display of all kinds, and 
avoided crowds and noise, and preferred his home and library 
to all other places. He was habitually grave and reserved in 
demeanor ; he did liot often laugh, and had but a small appre- 
ciation of humor ; he sometimes told a story, but rarely without 
spoiling it. He was fond of hospitality, and while he was Sec- 
retary of the Treasury kept an expensive establishment. It was 
■a rare occasion upon which he did not have at his table others 
than the members of his own household. The consequence was, 
that when he retired from ofiice he found himself in debt, 
and was compelled to sell real estate in Ohio to make up the de- 
ficiency between income from private sources and his salary, 
and the outgo incident upon a position, the dignity of which 
he though c it his duty to support even at a personal loss. 
However, he cared very little for the mere physical enjo}Tnents 
of the table, but was fond of the table-talk ; and, if it may be 
so expressed, had a happy dinner-table faculty, for, though men 
were not generally at ease in his presence, they were perfectly so 
then. He was pure in thought and speech ; ribaldry in word 
and manner were alike hateful to him ; and men felt this in- 
stinctively, and rarely offended in this respect in his presence, 
and he seldom had occasion to reprove any one, though when 
the occasion did arise he was prompt and decisive without af- 
fectation or prudery. He hated profanity, too. " He must be a 
bold man who could swear twice in his presence," wi'ites Dema- 



596 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

rest Lloyd, * " for tlie rebuke of his angry eye would sliame tlie 
coolest or most flippant visitor into silence." 

.III. Modesty'' was a conspicuous element in Ms character. 
" Those who believe that the greatest men are most sensible of 
their own defects, will be glad to think," says the same writer 
from whom I have just quoted, " that Mr. Chase's modesty was 
one of the signs of his greatness. There was no subject about 

which he talked less than himself ; he rarely or never referred to 

• 

* "Home-Life of Salmon Portland Chase," Atlantic Monthly, November, 1873. 

* He constantly under-estimated himself and his public services. A notable 
instance of this happened when some gentlemen in Baltimore proposed to present 
him a very handsome house and grounds. He expressed his grateful appreciation 
of their friendship and intention, but very courteously declined the offer. However, 
he did accept Rembrandt Peale's magnificent bust-portrait of Chief-Justice Marshall, 
presented to him by sixty prominent citizens of New York, in 1867. But he re- 
garded this more as a public trust than as a private gift, and, by wiU, bequeathed it 
to the Supreme Court of the United States ; and it hangs in the court-room (the old 
Senate-chamber) at Washington. This noble picture was accompanied by an ex- 
ceedingly interesting historical memorandum, which I append : 

" This portrait of Chief-Justice Marshall was painted from life, by Rembrandt 
Peale, nine years before the death of the great jurist. It bears the signature of the 
artist, with the date of execution, and has never been copied. It is doubtless the 
last portrait of the Chief-Justice. The following history of the painting is in the 
handwriting of Mr. Peale: 'Washington, April 21, 1858. After my portrait of 
Washington was placed in the Senate-chamber, at the right hand of the Speaker, in 
a good light, on a projecting angle of 'the cornice, it appeared to me desirable to 
have a companion-picture on th* left-hand corner. I therefore painted a portrait 
of Chief-Justice Marshall, as the most suitable. The picture corresponded with that 
of Washington, being a bust-portrait within an oval of massive stone-work. Wash- 
ington's was encircled with the oak-leaf ; Marshall's with the palm and olive: the 
key-stone in Washington's being the Phidian head of Jupiter ; in Marshall's the head 
of Solon : the motto in Washington's Patrice Pater, and in Marshall's Fiat Justitia? 

" The portrait of Washington being afterward removed to a central position, and 
placed in the dark, high over the Speaker's chair, I indulged in the thought that my 
portrait of Marshall might find an honorable location in the Supreme Court ; but, 
perceiving that the room was small and unsuitable, I never mentioned my idea, and 
took no steps to dispose of the picture." 

A short time before his death, Mr. Peale deposited this picture in the State 
Library at Richmond, whence it was sent by Governor Letcher and received in New 
York in February, 1861, not long before the secession of Virginia and the com- 
mencement of the hostilities of the rebellion, and thus narrowly escaped confisca- 
tion and possibly destruction. 

The reader will observe that Mr. Peale's modestly-indulged thought, that his 
picture might find an honorable location in the Supreme-Court room, has been real- 
ized in a somewhat curious way. The donors to Mr. Chase paid the heirs of Mr. 
Peale $3,000 for the picture. 



HIS LOVE OF TRUTH. 597 

himself or liis history in any way. There have been few men, 
with so mnch to remember, so httle given to reminiscence. 
I^ot only would he seldom volunteer recollections, but it re- 
quired skill even to draw them from him. His modesty as to 
the aecm'acy of his judgment led him always to speak carefully, 
and with provisos, where men of a tenth of his intellectual 
weight were dogmatic. It showed itself as much in his frank- 
ness in confessing lack of knowledge of various subjects as in 
any thing. He had none of that pretentiousness which clamis 
all knowledge as its own. Even when questioned on subjects 
with which he might be expected to be familiar, his plain an- 
swer was, again and again, ' I don't know.' " But this frank 
" I don't know " was largely due also to a scrupulous adherence 
to truth even in trifles. Mr. Chase never said what he did not 
believe ; he rarely made promises, and he made none that he 
did not fulfill if it were humanly possible to do so. Every one 
knew this ; and hence it was that men sometimes sought to im- 
pose upon him by claiming promises he never had made. Soon 
after he became Secretary, he found it necessary to keep a brief 
record of visitors, in order to guard against impostors of this 
kind. The names of callers, unless official ones, were noted 
down in a book kept for the purpose, with the date of the call 
and its object. If any promise was made, it was carefully and 
exactly stated. This proved an efficient safeguard ; though, pos- 
sessing an excellent memory, Mr. Chase was not likely to be 
often deceived. However, he preferred the certainty of the 
record. He did not equivocate even in the commonest of equiv- 
ocations, that of not being at home to unwelcome visitors. I 
knew him to border upon an equivocation once, and once only, 
while he was Secretary of the Treasury, and had the frank- 
ing privilege. A gentleman came in one day and asked him 
to frank a letter. Mr. Chase did not frank even his own pri- 
vate correspondence, but paid the postage by stamps ; and he 
was both sm'prised and annoyed by this request. He did not 
refuse, but what he did was this : he said, " Leave yom* let- 
ter, and I wiU see that it is sent." The significance of the 
answer attracted the gentleman's .otice, but he was too much 
embarrassed to ask for the return of his letter. After he was 
gone, Mr. Chase put a stamp upon it. He did not like any thing' 



598 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

wliich involved deceit, even though it was in the nature of a 
" pious " one. When the Metropolitan Methodist Church, at 
"Washington, was being built, an arrangement was made by 
which Daniel Drew, a gentleman of admitted extraordinary 
piety in New York, paid a contribution of ten thousand dol- 
lars toward it. Five thousand were set down as the gift of 
General Grant, and five thousand as that of Mr. Chase, but Mr. 
Chase wrote in his own hand, after his signature, " paid through 
the liberality of Daniel Drew," for it was not right, he said, 
that he should be credited with giving what he had not given, 
and what he could not afford to give, even to what was un- 
doubtedly a worthy object. Others were not so scrupulous, 
however, and it was printed all over the country that he had 
subscribed five thousand dollars, nothing being said of the fact 
that Daniel Drew had paid the money ; which Mr. Chase did 
not like, and was more than half-minded to rebuke. It can 
never be known how much of his success in financial matters, 
during the first few months of Mr. Lincoln's presidency, was 
due to confidence inspired among capitalists by faith in the 
absolute integrity of his word. An instance of this happened 
in ITovember, 1861. There was a good deal of depression about 
war progress even at that early date. Much apprehension pre- 
vailed that the Army of the Potomac would go into winter 
quarters* At a meeting of capitalists in ISTew York, about the 
middle of that N"ovember, Mr. Chase said that no such appre- 
hension need be entertained ; that the war would be prosecuted 
with prompt and decisive energy. This statement was every- 
where received with confidence, for the reason that Mr. Chase 
had made it, and there was everywhere a revival of hope and ex- 
pectation ; which were both disappointed, however, but through 
no fault of the Secretaiy of the Treasury. 

lY. To this love of truth Mr. Chase joined love of justice. 
He had a swift and towering temper which sometimes mastered 
him, notwithstanding a constant habit of watchfulness and re- 
pression.' He was at all times a man of commanding presence, 
but when he gave way to anger, which, however, was not often, 
his was a front of majesty; and it is no exaggeration to say 
that men fled from his presence, as lesser animals take flight 
before a lion. He was irritable under interruption when em- 



HIS HABITS OF LABOR. 599 

ployed upon matters requiring concentration of thonglit. The 
consequence was, that he sometimes pei-petrated that sort of 
injustice which is commonly called " snubbing." In these 
moods he was no respecter of persons. The Secretary of "War, 
or a Senator, or a member of the House of Kepresentatives, or 
a clerk, was equally likely to be the object of his wrath. He 
offended many in this way ; but no man was ever more swift 
to repentance than Mr. Chase, nor more prompt and ample in 
reparation; and not a few were almost reconciled that they 
had suffered at his hands, so full and complete was the amende. 
The humblest servant in his household, the least of all the em- 
ployes who was his subordinate, was sure of an instant and pa- 
tient hearing if the complaint was that he had been unjust. One 
evening he spoke with great severity to a messenger who was 
physically unable, to do what the Secretary had directed. The 
lad bore his anger without complaint, but two days afterward, 
just in the dusk of evening, Mr. Chase sent for him and con- 
fessed the wrong. There was a kindly dignity in his manner at 
such times, a noble humility, which won the heart and almost 
made one wish that the offense might be repeated. 

V. Mr. Chase was an indomitable laborer. His life was one 
of incessant work. His power of prolonged and sustained ap- 
plication was extraordinary. He allowed himself no rest, but 
applied all his faculties, mental and physical, with a merciless 
and relentless activity that near and watchfid friends well knew 
must sooner or later destroy him. He was not content with the 
prompt and faithful performance of his own duties, but, like 
Lord Palmerston, he performed many which properly belonged 
to subordinates. He left nothing to be done to-morrow that 
could be done to-day. He was prompt in the fulfillment of all 
engagements. He tolerated no slovenly work and no slovenly 
worker. He was critical in all that concerned neatness, and ex- 
acting in ail that concerned accuracy. He carefully read every 
paper that came to him for signature. He never attached his 
name to a letter, or a Treasury warrant, or any document of any 
kind, public or private, the history of which he did not fully 
Imow. He allowed but little exercise of authority by subor- 
dinates ; acquainted himself with all the details of his office, 
and supervised every thing and directed every thing. In a word, 



600 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

he applied liimself beyond all just use of Ms powers. " ISTeces- 
sitas quod eogit defendit," says Dr. Johnson in his "Life of 
Pope ; " " that may be lawfully done which cannot be forborne. " 
The warnings of friends were vain ; he persisted till his frame, 
strong and powerful as it was, could endure no longer, and the 
stroke which left him a ruin — a ruin noble and stately, it is true, 
but still a ruin — came at last. 

YI. The labors performed by Mr. Chase in the Treasury 
Department were prodigious. Yery few persons have any just 
conception of the magnitude of that great establishment. Be- 
sides the work of providing ways and means for the support of 
the army and the navy, and the civil list — of itself, in a time of 
war, sufficient to tax the best energies of a laborious statesman — 
is that of supervising and directing its internal machinery. A 
most perplexing and thankless task connected with this internal 
management is that of dispensing the department patronage, 
and this was especially so during Mr. Lincoln's first administra- 
tion. In the halls and anterooms applicants for places con- 
gregated daily by tens and scores. To meet the demands they 
made upon the Secretary's time was an oppressive duty from 
which there was small chance of escape. Thousands made these 
personal appeals, and other thousands sent appeals in wiiting. 
Cabinet-officers, Senators, representatives, governors of States, 
local politicians, clergymen, and personal friends, came to press 
or oppose appointments. It is within strict truth to say that 
Mr. Chase was " interviewed " by ten thousand apphcants, and 
passed upon fifty thousand appHcations during three and a quar- 
ter years ; and the number who came on behalf of friends was 
incomputable. This bestowal of patronage was the most disa- 
greeable of aU his public duties. 

YII. In 1861, the Treasmy Department contained fourteen 
separate bureaus. First was that of the Secretary, and next in 
importance that of the Treasurer of the United States. There 
were five bureaus called, respectively, the offices of the Solicitor, 
of the Eegister, of the Commissioner of Customs, of the Light- 
House Board, of Construction ; and there were those of two 
Controllers and six Auditors. Of the details of the business 
of each of these Mr. Chase informed himself with an astonish- 
ing degree of accuracy. Their duties comprised a charge of aU 



METHODS OF LABOR. 601 

the public moneys and of tlie public accounts, including those of 
the "War, of the !N"avy and Post-Office Departments, and the care 
of all the custom-houses, mints, and assay-offices, of the light- 
houses, of the ]3ublic buildings of the United States, of the reve- 
nue marine, of the marine hospitals, of the coast survey, and the 
inspection of steamboats. Four new bureaus were organized 
under his administration ; those of the Controller of the Cur- 
rency, of the Commissioner of Internal Kevenue, of the In- 
ter-State Commerce, and of that branch of the Secretary's 
office called the Currency Printing Division. In respect of one 
of these — that of the Inter-State Commerce — there were no pre- 
cedents anywhere ; but they all emerged from Mr. Chase's plastic 
hand in a state of great completeness at the very outset of their 
operations. Two of them had officers all over the country ; two 
of them were more restricted in their spheres of action ; but all 
required, in order to successful working, a careful attention to 
details both large and small. They worked harmoniously and 
efficiently from the beginning. It is not specially wonderful, 
therefore, that the work of organization performed by Mr. 
Chase excited Mr. Fessenden's great astonishment. 

YIII. Mr. Chase's methods of labor while Secretary of the 
Treasmy were characteristic. He arose in summer usually at 
six, and in winter not later than seven o'clock. He worked in 
his library until his breakfast-hour at half-past eight, either in 
dictating letters (his private correspondence was large), or in 
receiving visitors. After breakfast he went directly to his office 
in the department. By half -past nine, and sometimes earlier, he 
would be at his desk at work. He rarely, not once a week, 
except upon Cabinet days, moved from his seat till he arose at 
haK-past five or six and often later, to return to his house. 

The first business of the morning was to read his personal 
letters, and such official ones as required his particular atten- 
tion, and dictate answers, or indicate briefly the answers to be re- 
turned, which were taken down in short-hand, and then written 
out at length for his signature. He dictated rapidly and an- 
swered everybody's letters, and did not often change his phrase- 
ology, except in cases of exceptional importance, when he would 
slash his original drafts without mercy. After answering the 
letters, he usually held brief audiences with the Assistant Secre- 



602 LIJFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

taries, which, had reference generally to the current work of the 
day. Then came the public audiences. He would see twenty 
to a hundred persons every day, upon all sorts of subjects con- 
nected with the public business. The time allotted to each caller 
was necessarily short, and Mr. Chase's manner was such that 
most persons felt the expediency of confining the talk to the mat- 
ter in hand, and most of them did it. After these audiences were 
at an end, the regular departmental business of the day, with 
Assistant Secretaries and other Treasury officers, would begin, 
varied sometimes by interviews with financial gentlemen and 
such other persons as had special claims upon his attention. 
This part of the day's proceedings usually occupied two or three 
hours. In the afternoon the letters written at his dictation in 
the morning, and those prepared by the clerks in his office, to- 
gether with the Treasury warrants and sometimes other papers, 
were presented for examination and signature. He read every 
letter and paper with scrupulous care, and frequently made 
alterations until the original was scarcely traceable. He was 
fond of brevity, and discarded all verbiage. He went over the 
warrants with an almost equal attention. He signed his name 
every day from five to seven hundred times ; and, if any one 
will take the trouble to make his own signature even five hun- 
dred times a day at a sitting, for a fortniglit or a month, he will 
discover how laborious a business it is. The clerks in the office 
who signed the " demand-notes," and who did no other work, 
averaged about 2,500 signatures a day, and the rapidest wi-iters, 
with the shortest names, did not often exceed 3,000. And after 
the work of the day was done at the office, and dinner was over, 
and in the evening he had granted audiences to visitors in a 
social way, till nine or half-past nine o'clock, Mr. Chase would 
retire to his library and work two or three additional hours, 
and sometimes longer, before he sought his bed. 

IX. This was the daily routine of his life, and it was occa- 
sionally necessary to work on Sundays, though he always did 
this with great reluctance, and never except under a strong 
conviction that it was unavoidable. 

X. It was an inflexible rule with Mr. Chase never to trans- 
act business with ladies. I never knew him to depart from this 
rule. On one occasion, a rude and persistent woman office- 



A RULE ABOUT WOMEN. 603 

broker, of considerable personal attractions, literally tlirust her- 
self into bis presence, and demanded an interview ; but bis 
refusal was so emphatic and his manner so stern that she re- 
treated thoroughly frightened. On another occasion, Mrs. W., 
wife of an old acquaintance and herseK intimate in Mr. Chase's 
family, and a lady of great elegance, boasted that she would 
make him forego his rule. She went to the office, and sent in 
her card. lie sent back a very courteous message, explaining 
his regulation, and invited her at the same time to make known 
her wishes through the messenger. But Mrs. W. had no wish 
except to make him break his rule in her favor. Presently she 
sent her card a second time, and received again the same mes- 
sage. She then resolved upon another expedient. She "^ave 
the messenger at the office-door no opportunity to intercept 
her, except by an act of great rudeness, and deliberately opened 
it, and, stepping inside, asked the Secretary if she could have an 
interview. His reply was a stern and unmistakable " Ko ! " 
She burst into tears and retreated ; Mr. Chase, instantly full 
of regret, followed Mrs. W. into the hall, and seating himself 
at her side upon one of the sofas, expressed his sorrow at what 
had happened; repeated the rule he had prescribed for him- 
self, and explained its necessity as he thought, and again asked 
her to state her wishes ; but did not invite her into his office. 
However, a shrewd and intelligent young woman from l^ew 
Hampshire once managed to get into his library before break- 
fast, and extorted from him a promise of a place before he was 
well aware of what he had done. He explained, after this 
young person had departed, his reason for his rule upon this 
subject. He said that no amount of statement or explanation 
was sufficient to convince a woman that to grant any particular 
request was either inexpedient or impossible ; and he instanced 
the case of one poor wife, who, while he was Governor of Ohio, 
came to his house with her luggage and two or three children, 
and announced her fixed purpose to stay until she had pro- 
cured the pardon of her husband, who M-as a convict in the 
penitentiary. 

XI. Mr. Chase's steady and unwearying application in the 
Treasury Department was only a type of the habit of his Hfe. 
He was equally laborious as student, teacher, lawyer, Senator, 



604 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Governor of Oliio, and Chief -Justice. He was no society man, 
and had a strong dislike for fashionable life, and seldom went 
out even upon those ceremonial occasions prescribed by the 
etiquette of official life at Washington. He liked the presence 
of visitors at his own table, but he cared very little to sit at the 
tables of others. He took scarcely any physical exercise till after 
an attack of paralysis made physical exercise a necessity ; then he 
took a great deal. He was fond of simple and innocent games ; 
croquet was a special favorite, and even that child's game called 
" jtarcheesi." He was also fond of chess,-and played a very good 
amateur game, and did not like to be beaten. He liated cards, 
and all games of chance. I do not think he ever went to a thea- 
tre in his life. He was fond of books, and had accumulated a li- 
brary of about two thousand volumes, and had among them twenty 
or thirty dictionaries and lexicons, and many atlases ; but most of 
his books were characteristic of his mind : they were chiefly polit- 
ical and historical, and upon the law, with a very few of poetry 
and none of fiction. He was fond of reading, but the nature of 
his employments left him no time to indulge in it as a luxury. 
His knowledge of liistory was perhaps not extensive, but it was 
accurate. He was a good classical scholar, and read French and 
German with ease, and wrote both with correctness. He was 
desultory in keeping up his diaries. The publication of some 
parts of them he expressly prohibited, and many of them were 
of an unmistakable private character, and obviously never in- 
tended for the pubhc eye. He loved a neat and elegant hand- 
writing, and appointed several persons to office on the mere tes- 
timony of their chirography, nor did he make a mistake in doing 
so. His own hand was singularly graceful, when he was not 
driven for time. He wrote with great rapidity, and never made 
errors in spelling. 

XII. Mr. Chase took a deep interest in military affairs, 
.and studied them with careful attention. While Governor of 
Ohio, he had taken a good deal of pains in respect of the re- 
organization of the State mihtia, and came to Washington, 
therefore, with some valuable experience. It became evident, 
early in April, 1861, that the ^75,000 three months' volun- 
teers called out originally by the President's proclamation, 
would accomplish very little toward the suppression of the re- 



ARMY ORDERS. 605 

bellion, and it was determined to call out a force of regulars and 
volunteers to take tlieir places as rapidly as tlieir terms should 
expire. At this time the magnitude of the rebellion was very 
imperfectly appreciated, and this second call was limited to 
42,000 volunteers and 28,000 regulars. There was no actual 
law for it, but it was within the spirit of existing laws. In 
order to best shape the matter for submission to Congress, the 
President, with the concurrence of the Secretary of War, re- 
quested Mr. Chase to prepare the proper plans for the new 
organization ; these plans to be in the form of military orders, 
to be laid before Congress at the extra session in July for the 
legislative sanction. "With some diffidence Mr. Chase under- 
took their preparation. In a few days the orders were ready, 
and now stand as !N"os. 15 and 16. When Congress met, 
they were made the basis of its legislation, and were substan- 
tially incorporated into the acts authorizing the employment 
of volunteers, and an increase in the number of regulars. 
There were important departures, however, from the plans 
proposed by Mr. Chase, which had some features peculiarly 
characteristic of his mind. I indicate two or three of these. 
The orders provided, for example, that in the original organ- 
ization of both volunteers and regulars, one-third of the com- 
pany officers should be appointed from the ranks, on the rec- 
ommendation of the proper colonel, approved by the general 
commanding the brigade. The law, however, provided for no 
original selections from the ranks. The orders, also, while pro- 
viding for the appointment of field and company officers of 
volunteers by the Governors of the respective States furnish- 
ing the troops, left all vacancies to be filled by the President, 
and so made him directly responsible for the efficiency of the 
volunteers, as well as the regulars. The law, however, pro- 
vided for filling vacancies by the Governors of States ; a provi- 
sion which became a most fruitful source of demoralization. 
The orders provided, moreover, that one-half of all vacancies 
occurring in both the volunteer and regular service, should be 
filled by promotion from the ranks. This provision was wholly 
omitted in the legislation of Congress, leaving the common 
soldier no opportunity for promotion, unless by the chance 
recognition or favor of the appointing power. The orders, it 



606 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

will tlms be perceived, contained provisions whicli secm-ed 
mucli better opportunities for tbe private soldier, a more com- 
plete responsibility in the Government, and a biglier probability 
of efficiency, than tbe laws under which almost the whole army 
organization, as it now exists, was created. 

In addition to this labor, Mr, Chase was called upon, by 
the President and Secretary of War, to take a very considerable 
part in the measures thought necessary to prevent the success 
of efforts to plunge Kentucky and Missouri into rebelhon ; and 
to him was committed, for a time, the piincipal charge of what 
related to military matters in Kentucky and Tennessee, and he 
was very active also in promoting the military measures deemed 
necessary for the safety of Missouri. I greatly regret that it is 
not in my power to give details concerning these matters. They 
would show that Mr. Chase, though an amateur in the art of war, 
exercised a sound judgment. He was a careful and attentive 
student of military movements. 'No member of the Adminis- 
tration — although such studies were not strictly within the 
province of his department — was more extensively or more 
accurately informed than he was. He had copies of all the 
military maps issued by the War Department ; he studied them 
daily, and knew them familiarly. He more than once expressed 
a regret that he had not chosen a military career ; and that he 
would have made a vigorous and successful leader it is hard to 
doubt. 

XIII. When Mr. Chase entered upon the duties of the Treas- 
ury Department, he brought with him only that limited finan- 
cial experience which had attended upon his administration as 
Governor of Ohio. His reading upon financial subjects had not 
been extensive, although of com'se he had read more or less ; but 
his reflections, and his observations in a practical way, had led 
him to entertain very definite and decided opinions upon some 
of the more important matters involved in public financial sci- 
ence. He believed in " incidental protection " to home indus- 
tries, and, though he did not doubt the general correctness of 
the doctrines of free trade, he knew very well that, as a practical 
fact, there was no present prospect of the adoption of an unre- 
stricted commercial intercourse between nations, however enlight- 
ened. Upon one vital point he was clear. It was this : that a 



EARLY VIEWS ON CUKRENCT. 607 

sound and eflScient currency is indispensable to the welfare of 
every civilized community, and that the best practical currency 
would be one of coin, admitting the use of large notes for the 
convenience of commerce. Such a currency he thought to be 
attamable, however, only through the legislation of Congress, 
and the action of the Federal Government. " 'No general objec- 
tion existed," he said, " to a mixed currency of coin, and notes 
exchangeable for coin at the will of the holder without loss; 
while all mere paper-money systems, pregnant with fraud and 
fruitful of ruin, justly incurred universal reprobation." These 
words are from his inaugural address in 1856. 

"A leading object in all regulations of currency," he said, in 
his annual message for 1858, " should be to secure the interests 
of the masses of the people by such provisions as will insure to 
labor just compensation in actual value. This cannot be effected 
while the laborer is paid in paper, subject to continual fluctua- 
tions and all the hazards of financial disorder. Whatever can be 
constitutionally effected by State legislation, toward the exclu- 
sion of the smaller denominations of notes for circulation, and 
the substitution of coin in their place, should be earnestly 
attempted. . . . Looking to the manifest intent of the Consti- 
tution to protect the people from the evils of a paper currency, 
as well as to the specific powers granted to Congress, I cannot 
doubt the power of the national legislature to prohibit the cir- 
, culation, as money, of any substitutes for coin. ITor can I doubt 
that the exercise of that power, by the gradual prohibition of 
notes of the smaller denominations, under twenty dollars, would 
be wise and salutary. ... I see no reason, indeed — especially, if 
small notes be once excluded from circulation — why the business 
of banking may not be safely left as open and free, to all who 
desire to engage in it, as any other kind of business ; care being 
taken that ample securities be given, in bonds of the State or of 
the United States, and by provision of an adequate specie-fund 
for the redemption of all notes in coin. Bank-notes, cu-culating 
as money, are debts due to the community at large, payable on 
demand ; and it is the duty of the State, representing the com- 
munity, to see that those debts are perfectly secured. Such se- 
curities are indispensable, and I submit whether the experience 
of the last few years does not suggest the expediency of requiring 



608 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

similar securities — or, at least, of procuring efficient guards of 
some kind — insuring punctual payment of deposits for safe 
keeping." 

Mr. Cliase sought to incoi'porate into tlie national banking 
system, so far as lie was able to do it in the circumstances of the 
country, tlie tborouglily-sound principle enunciated in this ex- 
tract. 

His want of extensive financial experience and knowledge 
of "book-finance," however, was more than compensated by 
the possession of a sagacious judgment and an independent 
will. From the beginning he consulted the leading capitalists 
and financial gentlemen of the country, and read every letter 
that came to him which contained a suggestion upon financial 
topics. He sought information from all quarters, thoroughly 
weighed aU that was wi'itten or said to him, and was governed 
by his own judgment at the last. That he made mistakes may 
be admitted without detracting from the splendor of his success. 
He was none the less a great minister, whose fame is justly a 
part of the glory of his countrymen. What he accomplished 
was his own work solely, for he was compelled to conduct the 
finances with little or no help from the President or any of his 
associates in the Cabinet. 

XTV. The greatest of Mr. Chase's financial achievements 
was the national banking system, and its existence is to-day a 
monument of his indomitable and persevering will. When he, 
first proposed it to Congress and the country, it had no friends 
and many and powerful enemies. The almost united banking 
capital of the country was actively hostile ; old political preju- 
dices against the United States Bank were revived against this 
system ; the Democratic party was solid in opposition, and the 
Republicans were almost equally united against it. It received 
no consideration at all at the hands of the Congress in which it 
was first proposed by Mr. Hooper. But Mr. Chase was confi- 
dent that its intrinsic merits must commend it to the ultimate 
approval of the people, and that its adoption was indispensable 
to financial success, and he urged it, with persevering earnest- 
ness, upon Congress and bankers, and upon infiuential journal- 
ists. A few fell in with his views ; these brought others, and 
the opposition was gradually broken down. Public sentiment 



POLITICAL ACTION. 609 

rallied in its favor, and it was established in a wonderfully short 
time, without being made a party measure, without any ener- 
getic action in its support on the part of the national Administra- 
tion, and without any appliance of corruption. In view of the 
vast influences hostile to it, and its want of party and adminis- 
trative support, its success was an extraordinary triumph, and 
illustrated the genius, the will, and the tenacity of its great pro- 
jector. 

XY. Mr. Chase left the impress of his mind and will upon 
all that he touched. He was a bom leader, and imdoubtedly ex- 
ercised a greater influence upon the destinies of his country than 
any other statesman of his generation. To join the antislavery 
movement and to exercise its practical leadership, were nearly 
simultaneous events. He soon led it from a position of mere as- 
sertion to one of practical action ; and though it was long weak 
as respected numbers, it was soon important and even powerful 
as respected influence. Mr. Chase inspired it to activity and en- 
ergy, and excited an early, wide-spread discussion of the slavery 
question, which rapidly modified public sentiment, and prepared 
vast numbers of the Northern people for that sort of constitu- 
tional antislavery action which was advocated by the independ- 
ent Democracy, and, until the war began, was the bond of union 
among Republicans. It is true that the old parties still clung to 
old symbols, but the principle upon which to base a departure lay 
deep in the bosom of both. What was needed was an adequate 
occasion for its development. That occasion arose when the 
Democratic party, in 1854, repealed the IVIissouri prohibition. It 
was not a work of extraordinary difficulty at that time to organ- 
ize a great party upon the avowed basis of slavery restriction and 
exclusion from the national jurisdiction. Mr. Chase warmly con- 
gratulated himself that the first stone cast at the " monster " of 
repeal went from his sling : and though, in the interval between 
the passage of the l^ebraska Bill by the Senate and action upon 
it by the House, he hoped and believed it might be defeated, he 
was not over-confident, but with characteristic energy applied 
himself to the work of marshaling the elements of opposition to 
the great wrong ; and of organizing them for prompt and effi- 
cient action. In Ohio, that organization was effected with as- 
tonishing rapidity. All efforts to divei"t public sentiment into 
39 



610 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

otlier channels were ineiffective. Tlie "WTiig party was utterly 
extingnislied in the course of a few months, and the Democratic 
party was put into a position of hopeless and permanent minor- 
ity. And this happened also in other "Western States, though 
in none of them so overwhelmingly as in Ohio. In most of the 
States of the East — even in Massachusetts — ^Whiggery and 
Know-Nothingery clung to their idols in the fall elections of 
1854, and some even in the fall elections of 1855, but both were 
broken down by the pressure from the West. And they were 
Ohio delegates in the national convention of the Know-Nothings 
who, in 1856, at Philadelphia, led the antislavery movement 
which divided and finally destroyed that organization. It may 
safely be said that Mr. Chase led the movement in Mr. Lincoln's 
Cabinet»f or emancipation, and he certainly urged it with a steadi- 
ness and pertinacity almost painful to the President. He was 
the early advocate of an extension of the suffrage to the enfran- 
chised slaves ; and lived to see organic changes which the boldest 
imagination, when he joined the antislavery movement, would 
have thought it madness to predict, and in all of them he was 
a principal and probably the most powerful agent. 

XYI. Mr. Chase's political opinions were founded upon re- 
ligious beliefs. He one day said to me that universal suffrage 
was a natural right which grew out of the obhgation men were 
under to worship God. He was a Democrat, because democracy 
embodied, as he thought, the perfect equality of men before the 
law, the Christian doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man- 
kind. He often quoted the noble description of William Allen, 
of Ohio, his predecessor in the United States Senate : " Democ- 
racy," said Mr. Allen, " is a sentiment not to be appalled, cor- 
rupted, or compromised. It knows no baseness ; it cowers to 
no danger ; it oppresses no weakness. Fearless, generous, and 
humane, it rebukes the arrogant, cherishes honor, and sympa- 
thizes with the humble. It asks nothing but what it concedes ; 
it concedes nothing but what it demands. Destructive only of 
despotism, it is the conservator of liberty, labor, and property. 
It is the sentiment of freedom, of equal rights, of equal obliga- 
tions. It is the law of Nature pervading the law of the land. 
The stupid, the selfish, and the base in spirit, may denounce it 
as a vulgar thing, but in the history of our race the democratic 



SLAVERY AND THE CONSTITUTION. 611 

piinciple has developed the higliest moral and intellectual attri- 
butes of our natui'e. Yes : that is a noble and magnanimous 
sentiment which expands our affections, enlarges the circle of 
our sympathies, and elevates the soul of man, until, claiming 
an equaHty with the best, he rejects as unworthy of his dignity 
any pohtical immunities over the humblest of his fellows." 
This was the denjocracy of the founders of the Democratic party, 
and it was that of Mr. Chase, to which he hoped to see the 
Democratic party of his own time honestly and practically eon- 
form itseK. ^ 

But he recognized at the same time the obligation of obedi- 
ence to law. This cannot be so well illustrated as by his own 
words in a letter to Theodore Parker, written in 1856, while he 
was Governor of Ohio : 

" You have laid me under additional obligations," he said in 
that letter, " by sending me the ' Great Battle ! ' It is a fit char- 
acterization of the struggle in which you have dealt so many 
and such manful blows on the right side. 

" But I have somewhat to complain of in your first speech. 
You say, on the supposition that the slaves are white, ' Do yoii 
beheve Governor Chase would have said, " JSTo slaves outside of 
slave States, but inside of slave States just as much enslavement 
of Anglo-Saxon men as you please ? " ' 

" My first objection to this, is the apparent assertion that I 
have said, ' Inside of slave States just as much enslavement as 
you please ! ' I never said that, for I never thought it. There is 
no spot on earth on which I would sanction slavery. 

" My other objection is the intimation that my constitutional 
views on the slavery question are determined by considerations 
of the color or origin of the enslaved. God forbid ! If every 
slave in" the South were bleached to-morrow — if every drop of 
African blood could be by a miracle converted into pm-est Anglo- 
Saxon — the constitutional power of the General Government 
over slavery in the slave States would be no whit enlarged. If 
the General Government has not the power to abohsh the slavery 
of the black man in the slave States, it certainly would have none 
to abolish the slavery of the white man. Indeed, not a few 
white men, to all practical intents and purposes, and some proba- 
bly of pure Caucasian blood, are now slaves in the slave States. 



612 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

" I adopt your motto very cheerf ally and heartily, ' 'No sla- 
very anywhere in America. No slavery anywhere on earth ! ' 
The latter is, you say, the ' topmost ' idea. The first, then, is 
not topmost. My sentence, ' No slavery outside of the slave 
States,' also is not ' topmost.' But it is, to an earnest man, 
anxious to get to the top, quite as important. It is funda- 
mental. The General Government has power to prohibit slavery 
everywhere outside of slave States. A great majority of the 
people now accept this idea. Comparatively few adopt the sug- 
gestion that Congress can legislate abolition within slave States. 
That proposition most men who have studied our institutions 
regard as including the doctrine of consolidation and subversion 
of State sovereignties, and other consequences dangerous to the 
rights of the people, and tending to bring on despotism. I 
say, then, take the conceded proposition and make it practical. 
Make it a living, active reality. Then you have taken a great 
step. Slavery is denationalized. The faith and practice of the 
national Government are on the side of freedom. Then, encour- 
aged by national example, by the sympathies, the cheering 
words, and liberal aid of good men and patriots, let the men of 
the slave States organize for the enfranchisement of their own 
communities. By-and-by, and not far off, you will come to 
the second idea — ' No slavery m America.' Then let the moral 
influence and wise action of the nation, wholly enfranchised, be 
made active on the side of universal freedom. . . . 

" I don't pretend to be a very wise or expert statesman ; but 
a roughly-trained, practical backwoodsman, who wishes to do 
something for truth, justice, and human progress, and who 
would prefer that what little he does or says should be so spoken 
of that nothing in his example, of word or deed, shall ever 
seem to contribute to the upholding of wrong." 

XYII. As a member of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, Mr. Chase 
opposed all interference with freedom of the press and of speech. 
He was outspoken against the order under which Mr. Yallan- 
digham was arrested, and those other orders of military com- 
manders which suppressed the Chicago Times, and interfered 
with the free circulation of the New Yorh World, the N'eio 
York Journal of Commerce, and other newspapers, in their 
several departments. He did not like to see a suspension of the 



SUCCESS AS A LAWYER. 613 

writ of habeas corpus^ and tliouglit it to be an act to be resorted 
to only in a great necessity, and then in a way the least possibly 
offensive to public sentiment. In the fall of 1863, when the 
President and Secretary of "War had determined to resist the 
processes of individual courts by military power, Mr. Chase 
disapproved so dangerous a method of procedure, and prevailed 
upon the President to adopt one less provocative of 'excitement 
and conflict, by a suspension of the wi'it uniform in its operation, 
and only sufficiently extensive to meet the particular exigency. 
When the abuse of the writ of habeas corjpus by Federal as well 
as State com-ts was under discussion in the Cabinet in Septem- 
ber, 1863, Mr. Chase took occasion to say that he had always re- 
garded the writ as a vital safeguard of personal liberty, and its 
suspension as a measure of great gravity, to be justified only 
upon grounds of unavoidable public necessity. • 

XVIII. Mr. Chase was eminently successful as a lawyer. 
Wlien he was elected to the Senate in 1849, if he was not at 
the head of the bar, he assuredly was second to no member of 
his profession in the West. He was not gifted as an orator ; 
his utterance was somewhat thick, and his manner lacked in 
gi'ace, but he was a skillful and successful advocate all the 
same, for he never went into court without thoroughly know- 
ing his case — at any rate as thoroughly as it was possible to 
know it — in all its aspects, legal and other. It was his habit 
to brief his adversary's case as carefully as his own in all im- 
portant causes. Prom an early period in his professional career 
his practice was confined to the Supreme Com-t of the State 
and of the United States. His arguments were distinguished 
for luminousness and method, and some of them even for elo- 
quence, as will be perceived by reference to the great case of 
John Yan Zandt.* The stately and sustained diction of that cel- 
ebrated argument drew wanxi praises even from Daniel Webster. 

Pif teen years of continuous political life had a good deal 
obscured Mi*. Chase's fame as a lawyer when he was appointed 
Chief -Justice in 1864, and his law-learning was somewhat rusted 
by long disuse, though he had not ceased to read more or less 
upon law topics, while his service in the Treasury was one in 
which reference to legal opinions was constantly recurring in 

' See ante, page 56. 



614 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

practice in a semi-judicial way. No sooner was he appointed, 
however, than he applied liimself with characteristic diligence 
to his new duties. He became a second time a student of the 
law, and did not remit the severity of his application until 
paralysis struck him down. . 

The eight years of his judicial service were exceptionally 
eventful and important in the history of the Supreme Court. 
Many new questions — consequent upon the war — came up for 
adjudication. The court found itself in conflict with Congress 
on the one side, and the Chief-Justice felt called upon to main- 
tain the freedom and independence of the judicial department 
as against the executive on the other. It is not within the 
scope of this book to go into his judicial career, further than as 
it concerned certain questions of financial interest ; but it may 
be observed that he sustained, in his judicial action, his well- 
known principles touching the rights of States and the rights of 
men. 

XIX. Mr. Chase's mental operations were not rapid, but 
they were safe and sure, and he seldom had occasion to retrace 
his steps. In his pohtical speeches and public papers, he aimed 
but little at rhetorical effects, but only to persuade and con- 
vince. He was very clear and logical in statement ; and was 
without passion and invective in the advocacy of his principles, 
for he believed them to be founded in truth, and he knew that 
the truth, though sometimes long obscured, must prevail at last. 
He disliked controversy. He was without vanity, though he 
had a strong sense of self-respect and of personal dignity. He 
was ambitious. Yes, he was ambitious even of the presidency. 
He was conscious of the possession of great powers, and he 
knew he would use them to promote the prosperity and glory 
of his comitrymen. They who censure him for this, would cen- 
sure every thing that inspires men to great deeds and to noble 
lives. . . . He did not take many persons into his affections, 
but no sacrifice was too great for those who gained them. He 
was trustful, however, of all men, communicating his thoughts 
without reserve to any who wished to know them. He was 
sometimes abused by professed friends, not because they be- 
trayed him, but because they lied ; for he had no secrets and 
there was nothing to betray. There is no act or utterance of 



PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 615 

Ms, either by tongue or pen, wMcli lie might not exhibit to 
the whole world without a tinge of shame. There is certainly 
nothing in his public life, and no one knows of any thing in his 
private life, which will not bear the scrutiny of his worst enemy. 
He was little given to fault-finding with others. When a friend 
spoke with bitterness of a well-known public man who had 
been guilty of a mean act of petit treason * toward Mr. Chase, 
he gently reproved him. Again, when I wrote an article for 
publication in a newspaper which had falsely assaUed Mr. Chase, 
and assailed the assailant, and showed him what I had written, 
he drew his pen through all but so much of it as was necessary 
to state the facts simply. ^Nevertheless, he criticised some of Mr. 
Lincoln's action and want of action with a great deal of free- 
dom, though he never wavered in a genuine veneration for Mr. 
Lincoln's character, nor did he ever doubt the absolute integrity 
of Mr. Lincoln's motives. But he was eager and impatient for 
a vigorous prosecution of the war, that human lives and human 
energies might be spared, and unnecessary increase in public 
burdens stopped. Partisans may blame him for this, but patri- 
ots will not. Ml*. Chase was fond of young men, and the young 
men about him bore for him a sincere affection. He showed his 
noble qualities even in respect of servants, for he rarely changed 
them, and they who nursed his children lived with him even at 
the time of his death. This is a rare thing in the Northern States 
of our country ; it happened a great deal, of course, under the 
slave system. And his servants were taught frugality, and accu- 
mulated small properties under his careful advice and guidance. 
XX. Mr. Chase accepted office as Secretary of the Treasm*y 
with a sincere reluctance, not only because its administration 
would be attended with great responsibilities and labor, but be- 
cause it involved a permanent residence at thg capital and an ex- 
pensive method of life, and prevented him from engaging in 
pursuits which would enable him to add any thing to his small 
estate. He was in debt $25,000 ; contracted chiefly in the pur- 
chase of a residence at Columbus, and in fitting it up for occu- 

* This admirable " Christian statesman " was a social visitor at Mr. Chase's house, 
and professed friendship, while at the same moment he was privately inciting a well- 
known journalist to public denunciation of Mr. Chase. It is a comfortable thing to 
add that he afterward came to grief, as was to be expected. 



616 LIFE or SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

pancy while Governor. He estimated in March, 1861, that 
after paying this indebtedness, he would have a clear property 
of about $65,000. What he owned paid a yearly income of 
from $3,500 to $4,500, but out of this were to be paid taxes and 
cost of management — the bulk of it being in Ohio, and a small 
part in ISTew York. But the depreciation of all kinds of prop- 
erty growing out of the near prospect of a civil war, made it im- 
possible for him to pay his debts without a sacrifice which he 
felt he could not well afford to make. He expected, during the 
six years of his second senatorial term, by the exercise of econ- 
omy, some practice of the law, and some sales, to pay his debts 
without serious loss. But this expectation was of course de- 
feated by his appointment as Secretary of the Treasury. Under 
these circumstances he thought himself warranted in procuring 
a loan from Kew Tork friends — who would neither misunder- 
stand nor misconstrue his application. These friends were Hiram 
Barney and Charles H. Marshall. Mr. Barney loaned him $5,000, 
and Mr. Marshall $20,000. His wish was to reheve his min4 
from anxiety and emban-assment, and his property from incum- 
brance, until he could make such disposition of portions of it as 
would enable him to pay his debts without the large sacrifice he 
would be compelled to make if he did not obtain a loan. But 
even if forced to sacrifices, he thought he might pay all, and 
still be worth $50,000. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Barney were 
very willing to advance the sum he required, and did advance 
it, and took his notes ; which, it need hardly be said, were faith- 
fully paid as they matured, with interest. 

Mr. Chase went out of the Treasury Department poorer 
than when he entered upon its administration; and though he 
might have made millions, had he so chosen, no doubtful penny 
ever came into his possession. His estate, when he died, was 
not worth more than $100,000, perhaps even less ; and that he 
was worth so much, at the end of a Kfe of never-flagging labor, 
of patient economy, and of perfectly simple habits, was chiefly 
due to accumulations from his salary as Chief-Justice during 
nine years of even greater economy and more simplicity of life 
than he had formerly practised. 

Just before the war, Mr. Chase had $5,000 of unemployed 
money, which he intrusted for investment to his old friend 



HIS PRIVATE FORTUNE. 617 

Joshua Hanna, of Pittsbui'g. Mr. Hanna invested it in stock of 
the Cleveland & Pittsburg Eaih'oad Company, and, at the same 
time, invested a like sum of his own in the same stock. After 
the breaking out of the war, Cleveland & Pittsbm-g stock ad- 
vanced rapidly in value, and when it had become worth 100 per 
cent, more than had been paid for it, Mr. Hanna sold out, and 
advised Mr. Chase to sell also. Mr. Chase acted upon Mr. 
Hanna's advice, and made $5,000 by the transaction. He told 
me that if he had retained the stock twelve or fifteen months 
longer, he might have realized $30,000 upon his small invest- 
ment. However, he felt no fegrets that he had not done so. 

In 1867, a story was put in circulation in the papers to the 
effect that Chief -Justice Chase had accumulated a property of 
8700,000. Of course the imputation was that he had made so 
large a fortune by a corrupt use of his oflSce while Secretary of 
the Treasury. He was thoroughly indignant at this, and on the 
17th of August, 1867, wrote me as follows : 

" A letter from Colonel Yan Buren informs me of yoiu* note 
to the World in vindication of me against this hbel. You did 
not let me know of this good deed of yours, but I thank you 
for it all the same. 

" Still, I am not willing to acknowledge any jurisdiction of 
anybody over my private affairs. What does it concern any one 
whether I am worth seven hundred dollars or seven millions if I 
have wronged nobody and misused no trust ? I never made a 
cent by any use of public funds or by any knowledge acquired 
in a public capacity. After Congress confided in me great 
powers which would enable me, if so inclined, largely to affect 
values of all kinds, I wholly abstained from speculations of every 
sort — even from the most lawful and innocent transactions. 

" The general result of my business both professional and 
from investments more or less permanent, has been a gradual 
improvement in my condition, esjDecially of late years as to in- 
come, for never having been able to live when Senator, Governor, 
and Secretary, on my salaiy, and practise a decent hospitahty, 
I have always sought to convert unproductive property into pro- 
ductive, and less productive into more productive. The im- 
provement in actual value is so slight, that I would willingly ex- 
change all I have to-day for what I had in 1842. And my pri- 



QIQ LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

vate income at tliis time, thougTi larger than when I became Gov- 
ernor of Ohio, in nominal amomit, is less if measm-ed by its pur- 
chasing power. I will very willingly take $100,000 in five-twerf- 
ties for the whole of my property, if any one will take it and 
pay my debts.* 

" Let my calimaniators be challenged to the proof of a cent 
gained by any other than honest means, and then let their work 
be exhibited ! " 

XXI. 'No doubt Mr. Chase had faults ; but they neither les- 
sened his personal dignity nor alienated the affections of his 
friends. They venerated him most who knew him best. For 
they knew what manner of man he was : that he hated all things 
mean, or false, or unchaste ; that he was blameless, just, truth- 
ful, abstaining from every evil deed ; generous, fearless for 
right, and humane ; honoring God, and loving his fellow-men. 

1 Mr. Chase's whole property, at that time, was not worth more than about 
$80,000. The largest income he had in any one year, includmg his salary as Chief- 
Justice (until after Congress increased it in 1872 to $10,500), was less than $13,000 
measured in paper money. 



THE LAST SCENE OF ALL. 

MR. CHASE was six feet two inclies higli, witli a frame 
and figure proportioned to his height. He had a singu- 
larly impressive presence, quite indescribable by words. It was 
the natural unconscious expression of the will which dwelt 
within him. He had an unusually large head ; blue-gray eyes, 
under massive brows ; wide nostrils and heavy lips, but of that 
peculiar shape which shows the presence of great firmness. 
He was remarkably near-sighted, and was sometimes unable to 
distinguish intimate acquaintances, even across a room. He had 
a rapid walk, and, in going from one place to another, rarely 
stopped on the way ; and was one of those few men who, even 
in crowds, attract general observation. When he used to pass 
through the halls of the Treasury, vcLQVLfelt his presence, though 
it was unannounced, and an involuntary hush always followed 
upon his appearance. 

Incessant labors taxed his physical resources beyond their 
power to respond. As early as December, 1868, in a short let- 
ter to Mr. Whitelaw Eeid, he said, " I am worked beyond what 
I thought possible, and I endure, and am well. How long ? " 
The warnings of friends were vain ; but, in 1869, he began to 
feel some alarm. He rapidly lost flesh, and, in the spring of 
1870, he felt he could no longer disregard repeated indications 
of danger. 

In the summer of that year he went "West, and spent some 
time in Minnesota, with the hope that mental rest and physical 
exercise would restore what had been lost. He had spent his life 
in-doors ; he was now imprudent in out-door exposure. How- 
ever, he enjoyed the excitements of these new experiences, and 
thought he was receiving benefit from them, but they hastened 
the disaster he was seeking to escape. 



620 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

In August he returned to the East, accompanied by Mr. and 
Mrs. Hoyt (who had been his companions in the West), and, 
upon arriving at Niagara Falls, spent a day or two at that place. 
They left Niagara, in the two o'clock afternoon train, on the 16th 
of August. About an hour afterward, Mr. Chase was observed 
suddenly to sway and fall in his seat, and to lose command of 
his speech. It was instantly perceived that he had been attacked 
by paralysis. The train was stopped, at Rochester, long enough 
for some brief medical consultation, but it was thought best — 
being in a Pullman car — to continue on to New York. On ar- 
rival in that city, August 17th, a medical examination developed 
that the attack involved the whole of the right side, from crown 
to toe ; but that, although serious, it was not necessarily fatal. 
After remaining in New York about a week, he went to Narra- 
gansett, the country residence of Governor Sprague, where he 
remained until near the end of the following January. His im- 
provement at Narragansett was surprisingly rapid : he was soon 
able to take daily out-door exercise, sometimes walking four to 
six miles in a day. He bent his great will to the work of recov- 
ery, though he was an entirely docile patient, and followed Dr. 
Perry's directions with a scrupulous exactness. Nothing could 
be more noticeable, however, as he began to recover his strength, 
thali his eager impatience to get back again to work. Still, he 
very well knew the nature and danger of his sickness, and, so 
soon as he was able to do any kind of labor, he proceeded to set 
" his earthly house in order." 

The change wrought in his personal appearance, by the fear- 
ful malady under which he suffered, was rapid and extensive. 
His hair grew white, and his figure became greatly attenuated ; 
but, even in ruin, he retained his old impressiveness of presence. 
He was patient imder suffering, and, though the natural impe- 
riousness of his temper would sometimes flame out for a mo- 
ment, there was something inexpressibly pathetic in his resigna- 
tion, and the constantly gentle, uncomplaining way in which he 
spoke of his sickness.* There is no sight more ennobling than 

1 " It is one of the least pleasant thoughts connected with the close of Mr, Chase's 
life that it should have been sometimes clouded by malice or thoughtlessness. There 
sometimes came to him through stray newspaper paragraphs, or chance gossip, some 
evidence of the caprice of that cheap republican gratitude which endures only so 



SEARCH AFTER HEALTH. 621 

that of a strong man suddenly stricken down by calamity, bear- 
ing tlie stroke with patience. 

At the close of January, 1871, lie went to New York, and 
remained there, under treatment, until March, when he returned 
to Washington, after an absence of more than eight months. 

In June he went to St. Louis Magnetic Springs, Michigan. 
He spent two or three weeks there. Thence he went to Wau- 

long as the public's faithful servant is of use, and which, when there is a falter in 
the hand that was once so strong and ready, demands his dismissal. But it is to 
the credit of the American heart that most of us remembered the services of Salmon 
P. Chase, and that, as a people, we dwelt on the memory of this arduous and un- 
selfish life while, perhaps, here was a newspaper gossiping about the ' succession,' 
or a lawyer grumbling because a case was delayed. These things, when they pierced 
the barriers solicitous relatives and friends raised around him, could be seen to 
affect him deeply, though he never confessed it. But he bore no malice for them. 
It was with no bitterness, then, but with a shrewd and kindly smile, that he some- 
times said, when his health was inquired about, ' I'm not very well, but I'm a great 
deal better than some people wish I was.' 

" His will was his great power. This faculty in him, probably more than any 
other, contributed to his success. It was dominating and indomitable; it yielded 
to no man and to no force ; its persistency was measured only by the length of the 
task to be accomplished, and its firmness increased with the weight of interests that 
depended upon it, and while it no doubt shortened his hfe, it again prolonged it. 
The tension of the war was wonderfully sustained, the strong will ruled triumphant 
over the strong body ; but it was a strain which could not last forever. Then fol- 
lowed the intense application to books and work which succeeded his accession to 
the bench, and the comoined weight soon began to tell. All through these exciting 
and arduous periods he held himself firmly to his post. Then came the great shock 
that prostrated him, and first set the term beyond which he could hardly endure. 
At this, the will turned to repair its own ravages. 

" All its old force was now bent in the opposite direction of recovering his health. 
His food, his hours of rising, exercise, retiring, his continuance at work were regu- 
lated with precision and the rules inflexibly kept. By this careful ministering, he 
slowly brought himself up to comparative strength, and finally fairly lifted himself 
upon the bench. It is a question whether his wisest course would not have been to 
pass the rest of his days in quiet ; and there can be little doubt, from a number of 
his expressions, that had Congress passed a law permitting the retirement of judges 
at sixty-five upon their salaries, he would have seriously considered the wisdom of 
such a step. He certainly at one time felt an interest in legislation looking to that 
end. But while he was on the active roll, he was too proud to seem neglectful of 
his work, and too conscientious to receive even the disgraceful stipend the republic 
doles out to her servants, without rendering what equivalent he could. That was 
rendered scrupulously to the very last ; and, considering the faithful industry of his 
whole career and the height and nobility of that memorable life and figure, there 
was, after all, something fitting in the sudden crash with which he went down." — 
Demajrest Lloyd, " Home-Life of Salmon Portland Chase." 



622 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

keslia, Wisconsin, to drink the waters of tlie Betliesda Springs. 
He derived some benefit from liis stay at Waukeslia,. which lasted 
somewhat more than two months. 

He began his return eastward in September, stopping several 
days at Chicago. He spent two days also at the Roman Catholic 
University of ISTotre Dame, at South Bend, Indiana, where he 
made a short address to the students ; and a couple of days at 
Cleveland. From that city he went to the home of his old 
friend and co-laborer in the antislavery cause, Gerrit Smith, at 
Peterboro', New York, and spent nearly a fortnight in the house 
of that noble-hearted philanthropist. 

He arrived again in "Washington in October, so far recovered 
as to feel warranted in resuming his official labors, which he did, 
and occupied his seat in the Supreme Court during the whole of 
the term of 18Y1 and 1872, and also that of 1872 and 1873. He 
performed his full share of the regular business, and read a nimi- 
ber of opinions, all of them showing that his mental faculties 
were as clear and vigorous as at any time in his life. He walked 
from his country-place, Edgewood — about two and a half miles 
from Washington — into the city and back again, almost daily, in 
all kinds of weather, and exhibited surprising physical vigor and 
endurance. 

But toward the close of the term, in March and April, 1873, 
his strength manifestly diminished. " During the last few days 
he sat in court," says Mr. Lloyd, " a sudden weakness surprised 
him. His walk was not so firm ; his breath hardly lasted the 
ascent of Capitol Hill, which his feet had trodden for a quar- 
ter of a century. His voice was weaker ; his manner, always 
considerate, but sometimes abrupt through nervousness or ill- 
ness, became gentler and kinder every day. His very silence 
was benignant. On the last day the court was in session, he 
relinquished his place to his venerable friend and associate. Jus- 
tice Clifford, and remained seated at his side, for the first and 
last time of his Kfe resting his head all day upon his hand. 
What thoughts oppressed him, or what shadow of the disaster so 
fast approaching drew its pall over his spirit, no man may know. 
In a little more than a week from that day his body lay in that 
very chamber robed in a more awful dignity than it had ever 
worn in life." 







lull NHV.V 



Bv fet^ 






HIS LAST UTTERANCES. 623 

A few days after this, on Saturday tlie 3d of May, 1873, Mr. 
Chase left "Washington for 'New York, with a view to visit Mrs. 
Hoyt in that city, and Mrs. Sprague at her home in Rhode 
Island, and some relatives in New England, and to proceed 
thence to Colorado, to spend a part of the summer in that Ter- 
ritoiy. He reached New York that same evening, and went 
directly to the house of his son-in-law, Mr. William S. Hoyt, 
on "West Thirty-third Street. He showed no unusual signs of 
fatigue or weakness. On Sunday he listened to a sennon by 
Eev. John Hall, a Presbyterian clergyman, in the church at 
the corner of Fifth Avenue and Nineteenth Street. On Mon- 
day he was quite well ; and walked out and made some brief 
visits, and some friends spent Monday evening with him. The 
talk was chiefly upon political topics, especially with reference 
to Southern affairs. He retired to his chamber at about half- 
past nine o'clock, apparently well and certainly quite cheer- 
ful. Before going to bed he wrote two characteristic letters. 
In one, addressed to Colonel Richard C. Parsons, at Cleve- 
land, he said : " Since the adjournment, which came none 
too soon, I have made my way to New York, and am passing 
two or three days with Mrs. Hoyt. It seems odd to be so en- 
tirely out of the world in the midst of this great Babylon ; but 
I am too much of an invalid to be more than a cipher. Some- 
times I feel as if I were dead, though alive. I am on my way to 
Boston, where I am to try a treatment, from which great re- 
sults are promised ; but I expect little. The lapse of sixty-five 
years is hard to cure." In the second, addressed to his niece, 
Mrs. Alice Skinner Stebbins, of Boston, he said : " My dear Alice 
— I came here on Saturday, and will come on to Boston "Wednes- 
day or Thursday next, if you write me that you can receive me 
without the slightest inconvenience. Mind ; I insist that you do 
not disturb yom-selves ia the least. If you have a spare room, I 
will gladly occupy it — nothing more. All I want from you is 
love. I crave affection and its manifestations, but I do not want 
to have my ease consulted, while those who consult it change 
any of their aiTangements for that purpose. Do I make myself 
understood? "Will you love me, and take no trouble about me? 
I shall have William with me : my young man, who was with 
me last summer. My love to Mr. Stebbins and to our cousins. 



624 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Most affectionately your uncle, S. P. Chase." Then, after read- 
ing a chapter in the Bible, as was his custom, and a few pages 
in a book of sermons, and night prayers, he lay down in the bed 
from which he never came forth a living man. 

In the morning his attendant, William Joice, on entering 
the chamber, found Mr. Chase in an apparently calm and easy 
slumber. William opened one of the windows, and then turned 
again toward the sleeping Chief-Justice. He thought he saw 
Mr. Chase make an effort to speak. He went to the bedside, 
and, greatly alarmed at Mr. Chase's appearance, called for help. 
Medical assistance was immediately summoned ; and upon ex- 
amination it was found that Mr. Chase had sustained a second 
shock of paralysis, which, from its great severity, must soon 
prove fatal. 

He lingered, unconscious, until about ten o'clock on the 
morning of the next day, May Yth, when he died without a 
struggle. His daughters and their husbands, Governor Sprague 
and Mr. Hoyt, were present, together with the medical attend- 
ants. Doctors Perry and Metcalf, Mr. Hiram Barney, Mr. Edwin 
Hoyt and the Chief -Justice's long-time faithful attendant, Wil- 
liam Joice. 

Although the Chief -Justice's death was not wholly unexpect- 
ed, it was, after all, a great shock to the public, and occasioned 
a profound feeling throughout the country. Resolutions by 
public bodies, by courts and assembled members of the bar, and 
by private citizens, in all the cities and principal towns, showed 
that the nation felt a genuine sense of the greatness of its loss. 

The body of the Chief-Justice lay in state in the Episcopal 
Church of St. George, in l^ew York, from Friday morning, May 
9th^ until the evening of the next day. Several thousand citi- 
zens visited the church to look upon him for the last time ; 
and most of them went because they honored him. 

On Saturday afternoon funeral services were held in the 
same church. A vast congregation assembled; among them 
were the Yice-President of the United States, several of Mr. 
Chase's associates in the Supreme Court, members of the Presi- 
dent's Cabinet, Senators of the United States, foreign minis- 
ters, members of the House of Representatives, officers of the 
army and navy, and distinguished citizens from all parts of the 



BURIAL. 625 

coimtry. The pall-bearers were Gideon Welles, a survi-v^ing as- 
sociate ill Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, Gerrit Smith, Hamilton Fish, 
General Shennan, General McDowell, William M. Evarts, 
Charles O'Conor, Whitelaw Eeid, William F. Ilavemeyer, Hi- 
ram Barney, and John J. Cisco. The Eev. Dr. Hall, to whose 
eloquent words only five days before the Chief-Justice had at- 
tentively listened, now delivered over his mortal part, a funeral 
discourse of great solemnity and impressiveness. His text was, 
" The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our 
God shall stand forever." 

That night the body was taken to Washington, where it ar- 
rived on Sunday morning the 11th of May. It was placed with- 
in the bar of the Supreme-Court room, upon the same catafalque 
upon which, eight years before, the body of President Lincoln 
had laid in state. 

On Monday the closing funeral services were held in the Sen- 
ate-chamber. The President and his Cabinet were in attend- 
ance, as were also a great number of other distinguished persons. 
The chaplain of the Senate, the Rev. Dr. O. H. Tiffany, deliv- 
ered an oration over the body, beginning with the words," The 
life of a great man is a great lesson ; the death of a great man is 
a great loss ; the dying of a great man is a mysterious lesson of 
woe." 

From the Senate-chamber the body was borne to its tempo- 
rary resting-place in the vault of the chapel in Oak-Hill Cemetery 
at Georgetown. The sidewalks along Pennsylvania Avenue and 
other streets were filled with people, and all the departments of 
government were closed and di-aped in mom*ning, and the flags 
on the public buildings and on many private ones were at half- 
mast. A hundred carriages followed the hearse. At the mor- 
tuary chapel was read the beautiful and impressive burial service 
of the Episcopal Chm'ch, ending with the Lord's Prayer and ar 
benediction, and then, near sunset, the casket was lowered into 
the vault ; and thus, from human sight forever, was hidden all 
that was mortal of Salmon Portland Chase. 



40 



626 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 



NOTES TO CHAPTER LII. 

Oeneral Oarfield to Mr. SchucTcers. 

" Washington, April 20, 1874. 

"In the month of September, 1862, 1 was ordered to WasMngton by the 
Secretary of War, and remained in that city on military duty until the fol- 
lowing January. During several weeks of September, October, and No- 
vember, I was the guest of Mr. Chase, and was permitted to share his 
morning and evening studies and discussions on financial questions. He 
was at that time laying the foundation of the national banking system, 
and adjusting it to the financial machinery of the Government. 

" It was a great privilege to be permitted to share his studies, to know 
the grounds on which his policy was based, and to watch its development 
as it grew into shape. He did not enter on the study in the spirit of dog- 
matism, but was willing to learn, from all classes of men, whatever would 
aid him in the solution of the great problem. It was his habit to invite to 
his house men of theoretical and practical knowledge, and to draw upon 
their studies and experience. I have a vivid recollection of many of those 
conversations, and to them I am able to trace many of the arguments by 
which Mr. Chase enforced his views in his annual reports and in his letters 
to Congress. 

" Nothing impressed me more than the great reluctance with which he 
consented to a dejDarture from the standard of value recognized by the Con- 
stitution. The pressing necessities of the war alone induced him to rec- 
ommend the enlargement of the currency which was authorized about that 
time. I recollect his saying that, specie payments being suspended, the 
next best thing to specie was a bond whose interest was payable in gold 
and the principal finally redeemable in gold. About that time a device 
was adopted to prevent the counterfeiting of fractional currency, by the 
process of bronzing the paper on which the engraved impression was after- 
ward printed. This bronze or gilt impression was in circular form, and 
on one occasion Mr. Chase, in answer to a gentleman who asked why this 
was done, said that, as he was in favor of specie payments, he was deter- 
mined that his paper money should have at least a metallic ring. 

" During the period to which I have referred, the principle of our sev- 
eral State bank systems formed an interesting tojjic of discussion ; and each 
evening brought into the Secretary's library a group of brilliant men whose 
conversations and discussions were du-ected by him into the line of his 
studies. It was peculiarly interesting to me to see the plan grow under 
his hands, and to trace the additions and modifications that were made 
from time to time by the suggestions of the friends who gathered about 
him. 

" It is worthy of remark that, during that period, I heard no expression 
of a desire or even a purpose to tolerate a continued suspension of specie 
payments. Every effort was made so to guard the paper issues that they 
should be speedily redeemed and the old standard restored. 

"We cannot too frequently recur to that formative period, and to the 
necessities which compelled and the purposes which guided the Govern- 
ment in the policy then established. The national banking system was 
intended by Mr. Chase as a permanent reform of our currency ; but it was 
all the while understood that the Govenunent would, at tlie earliest possi- 
ble moment, withdraw from the banking business, by ceasing to be a direct 
issuer of currency. The greenbacks were the result of the extremest 
necessity. The Secretary took occasion of this necessity, to reform the cur- 



CHARACTERISTICS. 627 

rencj, and establish a permanent system of banking, based on the business 
of the country, which he believed would be a great national blessing. 

" Besides his attention to public questions, he cultivated and enjoyed, 
with a keen relish, the companionship of books, and was familiar with the 
great masters of literature. 

*' I remember an incident which illustrated his intimate knowledge of 
Tennyson. In 1859, when he was about to retire from the governorship of 
Ohio, some friends were expressing their regret that the State should lose 
his services. One of the company said : ' We shall not lose his services. 
We look ahead — 

"And trust the larger hope." ' 

" Mr. Chase, recognizing the quotation from Tennyson's ' In Memoriam, ' 
instantly rejilied : ' I am glad you did not quote the whole line — 

" And faintly tnist the larger hope. " ' 

"Few men realized more fully than he the truth, so well expressed by 
Emerson, that ' there is no hour of vexation which, on a little reflection, 
will not find diversion and relief in the library.'' 

" While I was with him, he frequently threw oif the burdens of a weary 
day, by reading aloud, or repeating from memory, the exquisite verses of 
Tennyson, Coventry Patmore, and other masters of song. He exhibited a 
playful and childlike spirit in his hours of recreation, which was in curious 
and very interesting contrast with his severe exterior as a public man. I 
hope your book will give to the public that view of his characteristics as a 
reader and conversationalist with which only his intimate friends were ac- 
quainted. 

" Hoping soon to see your volume in print, I am, very truly yours, 

"J. A. Garfield." 

Extract from Mr. Lloy(Vs Article, ^'■Home-Life of Salmon Portland Chase,''^ 
in Atlantic Monthly, Nonember, 1873. 

" During the latter years of his life, but before his paralytic attack, a 
yearning came over him, as it comes to so many lovers of Nature, to renew 
his old acquaintanceship with her in some retreat guarded from the busy 
sights and sounds of a city. The spot selected for his country-home was 
necessarily near enough to town to ijermit daily and convenient attendance 
at court, and yet was distant enough to withdraw him from bustle, and 
retired enough to shelter him from intrusion. It was no inconsiderable 
domain either ; its fifty-five acres came to be dubbed familiarly ' The 
Duchy.' It lies about two miles from the city, directly north of the Capi- 
tol, and has long been known as a tract which it was proposed to turn into 
a summer residence for the President, at least one resolution to this efl'ect 
having been introduced into the Senate before the war, with the design, it 
is said, of placing the new Executive mansion where the house of the 
Chief-Justice stood. This house, though built many years before, could % 

hardly have been fashioned more to his tastes. Its dimensions were so 
generous that its building is said to have been interrupted for a time by 
lack of money, the father of the futiu-e owner admitting that he had 
' agreed to pay for a house, but not,' said he, ' for a capitol.' It is a 
plain, massive, three-story brick house, with nothing of modern architect- 
ural frippery about it ; a house of ample halls, broad staircases, lofty 
ceilings, elaborate and old-fashioned mouldings, and walls that might 
stand for centuries. But its site is its chief beauty. It rises boldly from 
the brow of a hill, which slopes rapidly down in front and ou both sides. 
On either hand, the gi'ound- descends to rise again in hills, over which the 



628 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Chief-Justice spent many an hour in leisurely walks. In front, it falls ab- 
ruptly down and rolls away toward the Potomac, between two gentle 
ranges of hills ; this defile, widening as it advances, opens full upon the 
city, with its houses glistening clean and white in the sun, while the Capi- 
tol, in simple majesty, is the vanishing-point of the picture. It is a most 
beautiful view, and, unromantic as it is, has all the moods wilder scenes 
are so rich in. No vicissitude of storm or cloud can rob it of its beauty. 
In the mist and haze of morning, the bright, full glow of noon, the thick- 
ening gloom of dusk, it still held its charm ; and, in all its phases, the 
Capitol, in which so much of the life-work of the veteran statesman had 
been done, was the centre around which the landscape seemed to group 
itself. In this beautiful spot he lived happily, free from care, though not 
from labor. He set himself, with all the eagerness of a convert, to learn 
the ways of farmer-life, watching with an enthusiast's care the advance of 
his fruits and crops, walking daily pver his little territory to inspect its 
condition, and often pushing into the woods and out on the hills beyond. 
It was a simple and unostentatious life, with nothing to mar its quietude." 



Rev. Br. McMurdy to Mr. Schuckers. 

"Chicago, September 20, 1S73. 

" . . . . My acquaintance with Mr. Chase began with the first convention 

held at the capital of Ohio, for the formation of a new j)olitical party, in 

which he was the principal actor. Our intimacy continued until his death. 

Shortly after our second annual Liberty Convention in Ohio, he wrote me 

thus : ' Mr. was wrong. We have nothing to gain for our cause from 

the ordinary political management of parties. Our principles, our cause, 
God, and the people, must be our reliances. We shall succeed simply be- 
cause we are right, using only such means as are worthy of our cause. 
Great and prevailing our party may become, but let the period of its im- 
purity — if it must come — follow the attainment of its great object.' . . . 
Again, and not long after, he wrote : ' Universal freedom should and, will 
be accompanied by universal brotherhood, and unrestricted commercial 
intercourse. . . . There is a Christian view to take of every question 
usually* regarded as merely financial or political. The precepts of the 
Great Master, and the welfare of the people, must ever be considered, to 
make our nation in all things the exemplar and the guide to a higher and 
nobler Life among the nations.' Eeferring to the efforts for his nomination 
at Chicago in 18G0, he wrote : ' I do not like, and cannot approve of somie 
things. They are beyond my control. . . . However desirable the result 
to my friends and to me, it is valuable and available only as secured by 
the most elevated means. Personal success is only desirable to me with 
that of the principles and measures to which I have consecrated my life. 
. . . Office is only to be desired as a means to an end.' After his acces- 
sion to a place in Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet, he wrote : ' God may humble us, 
and teach us our dej^endence upon Him, but I feel assured that He will 
make us a free and united people. He wiU teach us the Lenten lesson : 
Undo the Imrdens and let the oppressed go free.'' When three stalwart rebel 
prisoners were brought into Washington from the first battle of Bull Run, 
as they passed by Willard's, missiles were hurled at them by gome of the 
excited New York Zouaves, as it was supposed. The crowd became so 
furious that the guards bore their charge into the basement of the Treasury 
building for safety. The venerable Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio, was walk- 
ing with me, near the Treasury, and he said: 'This is not right; some- 
thing must be done.' Impulsively I exhorted the crowd from the Treasury 



RECOLLECTIONS. 629 

steps, urging them to be orderly and quiet, and not to injure the persons 
of the prisoners, and appealing to their sense of honor and military pro- 
priety. Mr. Chase, hearing of this, wrote me : ' I am sorry I did not know 
at the time of your noble exertion. . . . How diflBcult to ever act accord- 
ing to rule and principle ! We are prone to be carried away by the pas- 
sions of the moment, and to forget that these are misguided men, under 
the influence of selfish and unpatriotic leaders, and educated under local 
influences and sentiments. Our prisoners must be treated with humanity, 
and under the promptings of an advanced Christian sentiment. If war 
cannot be prevented, its horrors may be mitigated, and its curse dimin- 
ished.' When, as Secretary of the Treasury, he was sorely pressed to eject 
from ofiice one who was greatly censured, he wrote : ' I know it would 
save me great annoyance to yield to their wishes ; but has been faith- 
ful to every trust reposed in him, and is free from all the charges alleged 
against him. I shall maintain his cause, and persist in being his unflinch- 
ing friend.' Writing of the eflforts made to bring his name before the 
Baltimore Convention, in 1864, he said: 'I will consent to the use of my 
name, if it shall be developed that I am the choice of the party, but I will 
not consent to its use beyond the ascertaining of the popular will, and in 
no case to distract the party and nation. I cannot use my ofiicial power 
to injure another or benefit myself politically.' And, after he was Chief- 
Justice, of certain strictures he wrote : ' I am not disturbed by the criti- 
cisms of my opinions and the imputations of unworthy motives. I leave 
my vindication to the calm judgment of the future. To one as familiar as 
yourself with my early views, you will see perfect consistency and agree- 
ment. Censure is the tax which a man pays for eminence in position.' 
And of the efibrts to nominate him at New York, in 1868, he wrote : ' They 
may possibly be successful. For the sake of the countiy I trust they may 
be ; for thus they will secure a new departure, and union and liberty will 
become the watchwords of the whole people, and growing evils will be 
checked.' In June, 1868, I inclosed him a note from a prominent Demo- 
crat, asking his political views, to be used by him among his Democratic 
friends. Mr. Chase sent me this laconic reply : ' Washington, June 24, 
1868. My deak Doctor: I am so much oppressed by correspondence, 
that I can only take time to thank you for your recent note. You must 
excuse me from any exposition of my political faith at this time ; but be- 
lieve me, very sincerely yours, S. P. Chase.' In the summer of 1873, he 
wrote me, that he prayed daily that when he had ' served God in my gen- 
eration, that I may he gathered' unto my fathers, having the testimony of a 
good conscience ; in the communion of the Catholic Church ; in the confi- 
dence of a certain faith ; in the comfort of a reasonable, religious, and 
lowly life ; in favor with and in charity with all the world.' And finally, 
not long before his death : ' I cannot confide in an impersonal idea, but in 
a personal God, whose touch I feel and whose love I know ; the Good 
Shepherd whose rod and stafl" comfort me, and whose smile will light up 
the valley. . . .' 

" Yours very truly, R, McMuedy." 

Miss Eliza Chase Whipple to Mr. Schneiders. 

"Boston, June 29, 1873. 
" . . . . My earliest recollections of my uncle, the late Chief- Justice, date 
back to the time when my grandmother Chase lived in Hopkinton, N. H. ; 
and must have been when he was a student in Mr. Wirt's office at Washing- 
ton. He was on a visit home, to attend a family reunion, at which I was 
present. 

" This was the last visit he ever made his mother. He soon after went 



630 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

to Cincinnati, where, when he was established in business, he made ar- 
rangements to have his mother and sister Helen come and live with him. 
But, alas ! he was doomed to disappointment ; for the mother of whom he 
was so fcmd and so proud (my grandmother was an exceedingly beautiful 
woman : I well remember her lovely face), died just two months before the 
time fixed for her departure from New England. 

" My mother constantly corresponded with my uncle Salmon. She told 
me how, as a child, his love of reading would lead him to stray away from 
playmates, and seek some quiet place with little Bessie Marble — the daugh- 
ter of a near neighbor — and read stories and poetry aloud to her. My 
mother told me that once when her father's friend, the late Jeremiah Ma- 
son, of Boston, was on a visit at Cornish, that gentleman and her father 
were out walking, and came unobserved upon little Salmon, who was utter- 
ly absorbed in his book (Rollin's 'Ancient History '). Grandfather said, 
' Mason, there is a boy who would rather read than play any time.' To 
which Mr. Mason answered, ' A boy with a head like that will certainly 
make his mark in the world ;' for my uncle, even as a boy, was noticeable 
for the massiveness of his head. 

" Shortly after the death of his first wife I went with him to Ohio. 
His family then consisted of himself, his sister Helen, his little motherless 
child, Kitty, Jenny Skinner (another niece), and myself. He did a great 
deal of his law work at home, and was a very close student. He never re- 
tired until after ten o'clock ; and then always had two long sperm-candles 
(there was no gas in those days) placed upon the table at his bedside, and 
when the morning came there would rarely be more than two or three 
inches of the candles remaining in the sticks. I think, if he had not been 
so close and continuous a student, he might yet be living. 

" He was very strict at that time of his life. He abominated cards and 
waltzes, though he did not object to a plain quadrille. There was no going 
to the races or the theatre for any member of his family. He was very 
religious ; and almost puritanical in his observance of the Sunday. He 
would not even allow us to write letters on Simday. 

" Shortly after the death of his second wife, he had what, I do not doubt 
from what I could learn, was a slight shock of paralysis. He was a good 
deal alarmed, for many of his relatives had died from that cause, and he at 
once made his will. He felt that he had inherited the disease. He was 
xmconscious for a very short time, however, and suffered no permanently 
ill effects from the attack, . . . 

" From your friend very truly, 

"Eliza C. Whipple," 



APPENDIX. 



631 



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EULoaT oj^ me. chase, 

DELIVEKED BEFORE THE ALUMNI OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE, JUNE 24, 1874, 

BY WILLIAM M. EVAETS. 



MR. PRESIDENT AND Gentlemen, the Alumni of Dajjt- 
MOUTH College : "When, not many weeks since, tlie com- 
mittee of your association did me tlie honor to invite me to 
present, in an address to the assembled graduates of the college, 
a commemoration of the life, the labors, and the fame of the 
very eminent man and greatly honored scholar of your disci- 
pline, lawyer, orator, senator, minister, magistrate, whom living 
a whole nation admired and revered, whom dead a whole na- 
tion laments, I felt that neither a just sense of public duty nor 
the obligations of personal affection would permit me to decline 
the task. Yielding, perhaps too readily, to the persuasions of 
your committee that somewhat close professional and public 
association with the Chief-Justice in the later years of his life, 
and the intimate enjoyment of his personal friendship, might 
excuse my want of that binding tie of fellowship in a commemo- 
ration, in which the venerated college does dutiful honor to a 
son, and the assembled alumni crown with their affection the 
memory of a brother, I dismissed also, upon the same persua- 
sion, all anxious solicitudes, which otherwise would have op- 
pressed me, lest importunate and inextricable preoccupations of 
time and mind should disable me from presenting as consider- 
able, and as considerate, a survey of the eminent character and 
celebrated career of Mr. Chase as should comport with them, or 
satisfy the just exigencies of the occasion. 



636 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

The commemoration which brings us together has about it 
nothing funereal, in sentiment or observance, to darken our 
minds or sadden our hearts to-day. The solemn rites of sepul- 
ture, the sobbings of sorrowing affection, the homage of public 
grief, the concom'se of the great officers of state, the assem- 
blage of venerable judges, the processions of the bar, of the 
clergy, of liberal and learned men, the attendant crowds of 
citizens of every social rank and station, both in the great city 
where he died, and at the national capital, have already graced 
his burial with all imaginable dignity and unmeasured rever- 
ence. To prolong or renew this pious office is no part of our 
duty to-day. IN"or is the mat^j^ty or nurture which the college 
gives to those it calls its sons, bestowed as it is upon their mind 
and character, affected by the death of the body as is the heart 
of the natural mother ; nor are you, his brethren in this foster 
care of the spirit, bowed with the same sense of bereavement 
as are natural kindred. The filial and fraternal relation which 
he bore to you, the college and the alumni, is hardly broken by 
his death, nor is he hidden from you by his burial. His com- 
pleted natm-al life is but the assurance and perpetuation of the 
power, the fame, the example, which the discipline and cultm'e 
here bestowed had for their object, and in which they find 
their continuing and ever-increasing glory. The energy here 
engendered has not ceased its beneficent activity, the torch here 
lighted still diffuses its illumhiation, and the fires here kindled 
still radiate their heat. 

JSTot less certain is it that the spirit of this commemoration 
imposes no task of vindication or defense, and tolerates no tone 
of adulation or applause. The tenor of this life, the manifesta- 
tion of this character, was open and pubhc, before the eyes of 
all men, upon an eminent stage of action, displayed constantly 
on the high placeswof the world. ]^o faculty that Mr. Chase 
possessed, no preparation of mind or of spirit, for great under- 
takings or for notable achievements, ever failed of exercise or 
exhibition for want of opportunity, or, being exercised or ex- 
hibited, missed commensurate recognition or responsive plaudits 
from his countrymen. His career shows no step backward, 
the places he filled were all of the highest, the services he ren- 
dered were the most difficult as well as the most eminent. If, 



> w 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 637 

as tlie preaclier proclaims, " time and chance happenetli to all," 
the times in which ]\Ir. Chase lived pei*mitted the widest scope 
to gi'eat abilities and the noblest forms of pubhc service ; and 
the fortunes of his life show the felicity of the occasions which 
befell him to draw out these abilities, and to receive these ser- 
vices. 'Not less complete was the round of public honors which 
crowned his pubhc labors, and we have no occasion, here, to 
lament any shortcomings of prosperity or favor, or repeat the 
authentic judgment which the voices of his countiymen have 
pronounced upon his fame. 

The simple office, then, which seems to me marked out for 
one who assumes this deputed service in the name of the col- 
lege and for the friends of good learning, is, in so far as the 
just limits of time and circmnstance will permit, to expose the 
main features of this celebrated life, " to decipher the man and 
his nature," to connect the true elements of his character and 
the moulding force of his education with the work he did, with 
the influence he wielded in life, with the power of the example 
which lives after him, and always to have in view, as the most 
fruitful uses of the hour, his relations to tlie men and events of 
his times, and, not less, his true place in history among the 
lawyers, orators, statesmen, magistrates of the land. Vera non 
verha is our maxim to-day ; truth, not words, must mark the 
tribute the college pays to the sober dignity and solid worth of 
its distinguished son. 

Bom of a lineage, which on the father's side dates its Ameri- 
can descent from the Pm-itan emigration of 1640, and on the 
mother's, finds her the first of that stock native to this country, 
the son of these parents took no contrariety of traits from the 
union of the blood of the English Pmitans and the Scotch Cov- 
enanters, but rather harmonious corroboration of the character- 
istics of both. These, sturdy enough in either, combined in 
this descendant to produce as independent and resolute a nature 
for the conflicts and labors of his day, as any experience of trial 
or trimnph, of proscription or persecution suffered or resisted, 
had required or supplied in the long history of the contests of 
these two congenial races with priests and potentates, with prin- 
cipalities and powers. ]!*^othing could be less consonant with a 
just estimate of the strong traits of this lineage, than which 



638 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

■ 

neither Hebrew, nor Grecian, nor Koman nurture has wrought 
for its heroes either a firmer fibre or a nobler virtue, than to as- 
cribe its chief power to enthusiasm or fanaticism. Plain, sober, 
practical men and women as they were, there was no hard detail 
of everj-day life that they were not equal to, no patient and 
cheerless sacrifice they could not endure, no vicissitude of adverse 
or prosperous fortune which they could not meet with un- 
checked serenity. If it be enthusiasm that in them the fear of 
God had cast out the fear of man, or fanaticism that they placed 
" things that are spiritually discerned " above the vain shows 
of the world of sense, in so far they were enthusiasts and fanat- 
ics. In every stern conflict, in every vast labor, in every intel- 
lectual and moral development of which this country has been the 
scene, without fainting or weariness they have borne their part, 
and in the conclusive triumph of the principles of the Puritans 
and their policies over all discordant, all opposing elements, 
which enter into the wide comprehension of American nation- 
ality, theirs be the praise which belongs, to such well-doing. 

The son of a farmer — a man of substance, and of credit with 
his neighbors, and not less with the people of his State- -young 
Chase drew from his boyhood the vigor of body and ot mind 
which rural life and labors are well calculated to nourish. Sev- 
eral of his father's brothers were graduates of this college, and 
reached high positions in Church and State. An unpropitious 
turn of the commercial affairs of the country nipped, with its 
frost, the growing prosperity of his father, whose death, soon 
following, left him, in tender years, and as one of a numerous 
family, to the sole care of his mother. With most scanty means, 
her thrift and energy sufficed to save her children from igno- 
rance or declining manners; maintained their self-respect and 
independence; set them forth in the world well disciplined, 
stocked with good principles, and inspired with proud and 
honorable piurposes. To the j)raise of this excellent woman, 
wherever the name of her great son shall be proclaimed, this, 
too, shall be told in remembrance of her: that a Christian's 
faith, and a mother's love, as high and pure as ever ennobled 
the most famous matrons of history, stamped the character and 
furnished the education which equipped him for the labors and 
the triumphs of liis life. One cannot read her letters to her son 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 639 

in college witliout the deepest emotion. How many such women 
were there, in the plain ranks of !N^ew England life, in her gen- 
eration ! How many are there now ! Paying marvelous little 
heed to the discussion of women^s rights, they show a wonderful 
addiction to the performance of women's duties. 

His uncle, Bishop Chase of Ohio, assumed, for a time, the 
care and expense of his education, and this drew him to the 
West, where, under this tutelage, he pursued academic studies 
for two years. At the end of this time he returned to his 
mother's charge, entered the junior class of Dartmouth College, 
and graduated in the year 1826, at the age of eighteen. The 
only significance, in its impression on his future life, of this brief 
guardianship of the Western Bishop, was as the determining in- 
fluence which fixed the chief city of the West in his choice as 
the formn and arena of his professional and public life. After 
spending four years in Washington, gaining his subsistence by 
teaching, a law-student with Mr. Wirt — then at the zenith of his 
faculties and his fame — studying men and manners at the cap- 
ital, watching the new questions then shaping themselves for 
political action, observing the celebrated statesmen of the day, 
conversant with the great Chief- Justice Marshall and his learned 
associates on the bench of the Supreme Court, and with Web- 
ster, and Binney, and other famous lawyers at its bar, he was 
admitted to practice, and, at the age of twenty-two, established 
himself at Cincinnati, transferrmg thus, once and forever, his 
home from the New England of his family, his bu'th, his educa- 
tion, and his love, to the ruder but equally strenuous and more 
expansive society of the West. 

While yet of tender years, following up the earlier pious in- 
struction of his mother, and his own profound sense of religious 
obhgations under the inculcation of the Bishop, he accepted the 
Episcopal Church as the body of Christian believers in whose 
communion he found the best support for the religious life he 
proposed to himself. When he left yom* college he had not 
wholly relinquished a pui*pose, once held, of adopting the cleri- 
cal profession. His adhesion to the Christian faith was simple 
and constant and sincere, and he accepted it as the master and 
rule of his hfe, in devout confidence in the moral government of 
the world, as a present and real suj^remacy over tlie race of man 



640 ' LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and all liuman affairs. He was all liis life a great student of tlie 
Scriptures, and no modern speculations ever shook the solid rea- 
sons of his belief. AVhen he entered the city of Washington, 
fresh from college, "the earnest prayer of his heart was, that 
God would give him work to do, and success in doing it." 
When he was laying out the plans of professional life, on his 
first establishment at Cincinnati, his invocation was, " May God 
enable me to be content with the consciousness of faithfully dis- 
charging all my duties, and deliver me from a too eager thirst 
for the applause and favor of men." All through the successive 
and manifold activities of his busy and strenuous life, when, to 
outward seeming, they were all worldly and personal, the same 
predominant sense of duty and religious responsibility animated 
and solemnized the whole. 

At this point in his life we may draw the line between the 
period of education for the work he had before him and that 
work itself. What Mr. Chase was, at this time, in all the essen- 
tial traits of his moral and intellectual character — in his views of 
life, its value, its just objects and aims, its social, moral, and re- 
ligious responsibilities ; in his views of himseK, his duties, obli- 
gations, prospects, and possibilities; in his determinations and 
desires — such, it seems to me from the most attentive study of 
all these points — such, in a very marked degree, he continued to 
be at every stage of his ascent in life. 

What, then, shall we assign as the decisive elements, the eon- 
trolling; constituents, of character — and what the assurance of 
their persistence and their force — ^which this youth could bring 
to the service of the State, or contribute to the advancement of 
society and the well-being of mankind ? 

These were simple, but, in combination, powerful, and ade- 
quate to fill out worthily the life of large opportunities which, 
though not yet foreseen to himself, was awaiting him. 

The faculty of reason was very broad and strong in him, yet 
without being vast or surprising. It seized the sensible and 
practical relations of all subjects submitted to it, and firmly held 
them in its tenacious grasp ; it exposed these relations to the ap- 
prehension of those whose opinion or action it behooved him to 
influence, by methods direct and sincere, discarding mere inge- 
nuity, and disdaining the subtleness of insinuation. His educa- 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 641 

tion had all been; of a land to discipline and invigorate his nat- 
ural powers ; not to encumber them with a besetting weight of 
learning, or to supplant them by artificial training. 

His oratory was vigorous, with those " qualities of clearness, 
force, and earnestness, which produce conviction." His rhetoric 
was ample, but not rich ; his illustrations apposite, but seldom 
to the point of wit ; his delivery weighty and imposing. 

His force of will, whether in respect of peremptoriness or 
persistency, was prodigious. His courage to brave, and his 
fortitude to endure, were absolute. His loyalty to every cause 
in which he enlisted — ^his fidehty in every warfare in which he 
took up arms — were proof against peril and disaster. 

His estimate of human affairs, and of his own relation to 
them, was sober and sedate. All their grandeur and splendor, 
to his apprehension, connected themselves with the immortal 
life, and with God, as their guide, overseer, and ruler ; and the 
sum of the practical wisdom of all worthy personal purposes 
seemed to him to be, to discern the path of duty, and to pur- 
sue it. 

His views of the commonwealth were essentially Pm-itan. 
Equality of right, community of interest, reciprocity of duty, 
were the adequate, and the only adequate, principles with him 
to maintain the strength and virtue of society, and preserve the 
power and pennanence of the State. With these principles im- 
impaired and unimpeded he feared nothing for his countrymen 
or their government, and he made constant warfare upon every 
assault or menace that endangered them. 

It was with these endowments and with this preparation of 
spirit, that Mr. Chase confronted the realities of life, and as- 
sumed to play a part which, whether humble or high in the scale 
and plane of circumstance, was sure to be elevated and worthy 
in itself ; for the loftiness of his spirit for the conflict of life was 

"Such as raised 
To height of noblest temper heroes old 
Arming to battle." 

Such a character necessarily confers authority among men, 
and that Mr. Chase was ready, on all occasions arising, to assert 
his high principles by comporting action was never left in doubt. 
41 



G42 LITE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

Whether by interposing his strong arm to save Mr. Bimey from 
the fury of a mob of Cincinnati gentlemen, incensed at the free- 
dom of his press in its defiance of slavery ; or by his bold and 
constant maintenance in the courts of the cause of fugitive 
slaves in the face of the resentments of the public opinion of 
the day ; or by his fearless desertion of all reigning politics to 
lead a feeble band of protestants through the wilderness of anti- 
slavery wanderings, its pillar of cloud by day, its pillar of fire 
by night; or as Governor of Ohio facing the intimidations of 
the slave States, backed by Federal power and a storm of 
popular passion ; or in consolidating the triumphant politics on 
the urgent issue which was to flame out into rebellion and re- 
volt; or in his serene predominance, during the trial of the 
President, over the rage of party hate which brought into peril 
the coordination of the great departments of Government, and 
threatened its whole frame — in all these marked instances of 
public duty, as in the simple routine of his ordinary conduct, 
Mr. Chase asked but one question to determine his com'se of 
action, " Is it right ? " If it were, he had strength, and will, 
and courage to carry him through with it. 

In the ten years of professional life which followed his ad- 
mission to the bar, Mr, Chase established a repute for ability, 
integrity, elevation of purpose and capacity for labor, which 
would have surely brought him the highest rewards of forensic 
prosperity and distinction, and in due course, of eminent judicial 
station. In this quieter part of his life, as in his public career, it 
is noticeable that his employments were never common-place, but 
savored of a public zest and interest. His compilation of the 
Ohio Statutes was a magnihrn ojous, indeed, for the leisure hours 
of a young lawyer, and possesses a permanent value, justifying 
the assm'ance Chancellor Kent gave him, that this surprising 
labor would find its " reward in the good he had done, in the 
talents he had shown, and in the gratitude of his profession." 

But this quiet was soon broken, never to be resumed, and 
though the great office of Chief-Justice was in store for him, it 
was to be reached by the path of statesmanship and not of 
jurisprudence. 

If it had seemed ever to Mr. Chase and his youthful con- 
temporaries, that they had come upon times when, as Sir Thomas 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 643 

Bro"vme tlioiiglit two liunch'ed years ago, " it is too late to be 

ambitious," and " the great mutations of tbe world are acted," 

the illusion was soon dispelled. It has been sadly said of Greece 

in the age of Plutarch, that " all her grand but turbulent acti\'i- 

ties, all her noble agitations spent, she was only haunted by the 

spectres of her ancient renown." 'No doubt, forty years ago, 

in this country, there was a prevalent feeling that the age of 

the early settlements and, again, of our War of Independence, 

had closed the heroic chapters of our history, and left nothing 

for the public life of our later times, but peaceful and progressive 

development, and the calm virtues of civil prudence, to work 

out of our system all incongruities and discords. But what 

these political speculations assigned as the passionless work of 

successive generations, was to be done in our time, and, as it jJid-^- 

were, in one " unruly Mght." nr^ j/ 

Mr. Chase had supported General Harrison for the presi- 
dency in 1S40, not upon any very thorough identification with" 
Whig politics, but partly from a natural tendency toward the 
personal fortunes of a candidate from the "West, and from his 
own State, in the absence of any strong attraction of principle 
to draw hun to the candidate or the politics of the Democratic 
party. But, upon the death of Harrison and the elevation of 
Tyler to the presidency, Mr. Chase, promptly discerning the 
signs of the times, took the mitiative toward making the national 
attitude and tendency on the subject of slavery the touchstone 
of politics. Politic and prudent by nature, and with no per- 
sonal disappointments or grievances to bias his co\irse, he doubt- 
less would have preferred to save and use the accumulated and 
organized force of one or the other of the political parties which 
divided the country, and press its power into the service of the 
principles and the political action which he had, undoubtingly, 
decided the honor and interests of the country demanded. He 
was. among the first of the competent and practical political 
thinkers of the day, to penetrate the superficial crust which 
covered the slumbering fires of our politics, and to plan for the 
guidance of their irrepressible heats so as to save the constituted 
liberties of the nation, if not from convulsion, at least from con- 
flagration. He found the range of political thought and action, 
which either i^arty permitted to itself or to its rival, compressed 



/ 



644 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

by two unyielding postulates. The first of these insisted, that 
the safety of the republic would tolerate no division of parties, 
in Federal politics, which did not run through the slave States 
as well as the free. The second was that no party could main- 
tain a footing in the slave States, that did not concede the 
nationality of the institution of slavery and its right, in equality 
with all the institutions of freedom, to grow with the growth 
and strengthen with the strength of the American Union. 
Nothing can be more interesting to a student of politics than 
the masterly efforts of patriotism and statesmanship, in which 
all the great men of the country participated, for many years, 
to confine the perturbations of our public life to a controversy 
with this latter and lesser postulate. Seward with the Whig 
party. Chase with the Democratic party, and a host of others in 
both, tried hard to conciliate the irreconcilable, and to stultify 
astuteness, to the acceptance of the proposition that slavery, its 
growth girdled, would not be already struck with death. Quite 
early, however, Mr. Chase grappled with the primary postulate, 
and tlii'ough great labors, wise comisels, long-suffering patience, 
and by the successive stages of the Liberty party. Independent 
Democracy, and Free-Soil party, led up the way to the Kepub- 
lican party, which, made up by the Whig party dropping its 
slave State constituency, and the Democratic party losing its 
Free-Soil constituents, rent this primary postulate of our poli- 
tics in twain, and took possession of the Government by the 
election of its candidate, Mr. Lincoln. 

This movement in politics was one of prodigious difiiculty 
and immeasm-able responsibility. It was so felt to be by the 
prime actors in it, though with greatly varying largeness of survey 
and depth of insight. In the system of American pohtics it 
created as vast a disturbance as would a mutation of the earth's 
axis, or the displacement of the solar gravitation, in our natm-al 
world. This great transaction filled the twenty years of Mr. 
Chase's mature manhood, say, from the age of thirty to that of 
fifty years. He must be awarded the full credit of having 
understood, resolved upon, plamied, organized, and executed, 
this political movement, and whether himself leading or coop- 
erating or following in the array and march of events, his plan, 
his part, his service, were all for the cause, its prosperity, and its 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 645 

success. To one who considers this career, not as completed and 
triumphant, not with the glories of power, and dignities, and 
fame which attended it, not with the blessings of a liberated race, 
a consolidated Union, an ennobled nationality which receive the 
plaudits of his countrymen, but as its hazards and renunciations, 
its toils and its perils, showed at the outset, in contrast with the 
ease and splendor of his personal fortunes which adhesion to the 
political power of slavery seemed to insure to him, and then con- 
templates the promptness of his choice and the steadfastness of 
his perseverance, the impulse and the action seem to find a paral- 
lel in the life of the great Hebrew statesman, who, " hy faith, 
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pha- 
raoh's daughter," and " hj faith, forsook Egypt, not fearing the 
wrath of the king." 

The first half of this period of twenty years witnessed only 
the preliminaries, equally brave and sagacious, of agitation, pro- 
mulgation of purposes and opinions, consultations, conventions, 
and political organizations, more and more comprehensive and 
effective. All this time Mr. Chase was simply a citizen, and 
apparently could expect no political station or authority till it 
should come from the prosperous fortimes of the party he was 
striving to create. Suddenly, by a surprising conjunction of 
circmnstances he was lifted, at one bound, to the highest and 
widest sphere of influence, upon the opinion of the countiy, 
which our political establishment presents — I mean the Senate 
of the United States. The elective body, the Legislature of 
Ohio, was filled in almost equal numbers with Whigs and Dem- 
ocrats, but a handful of Liberty party men held the control to 
prevent or determine a majority. They elected Mr. Chase. 
The concurrence is similar, in its main features, to the election 
of Mr. Sumner to the Senate, two years afterward, in Massachu- 
setts. Much criticism of such results is always and necessarily 
excited. The true intei*pretation of such transactions is simply a 
transition state from old to new politics, wherein party names 
and present interests are unchanged, but opinions and projects and 
prospects are taking a new shape, and the old mint, all at once, 
astonishes everybody by striking a new image and superscription, 
soon to be stamped upon the whole coinage. The part of ]^r. 
Chase in this election, as of Mr. Sumner in his own, was elevated 



C-i6 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and without guile. His term in tlie Senate brought liim to the 
year 1856, and was followed by two successive elections and four 
years' service as Governor of Ohio, and a reelection to the Sen- 
ate. In these high stations he added public authority to his 
opinions and purposes, and gained for them wider and wider in- 
fluence, while he discharged all general senatorial duties, and 
official functions as Governor, with benefit to the legislation of 
the nation and to the administration of the State. 

As the presidential election approached and the Republican 
party took the field with an assurance of assuming the admin- 
istration of the Federal Government, and of meeting the weighty 
responsibility of the new political basis, the question of candi- 
dates absorbed the attention of the party, and attracted the inter- 
est of the whole countiy. When a new dynasty is to be en- 
throned, \h.Q personality of the ruler is an element of the first 
importance. In the general judgment of the country, and 
equaPy to the apprehension of the mass of his own party and of 
its rival, Mr. Seward stood as the natural candidate, and upon 
manifold considerations. His unquestioned abilities, his un- 
doubted fidelity, his vast services and wide following in the party, 
presented an unprecedented combination of political strength to 
obtain the nomination and carry the election, and of adequate 
faculties and authority with the people for the prosperous ad- 
ministration of the presidential office. Second only to Mr. 
Seward, in this general judgment of his countrymen, stood Mr. 
Chase, with just enough of preference for him, in some quarters, 
over Mr. Seward, upon limited and special considerations, to en- 
courage that darling expedient of our politics a resort to a third 
candidate. This recourse was had, and Mr. Lincoln was nomi- 
nated and elected. 

The disclosure of Mr. Lincoln to the eyes of his countrymen 
as a possible, probable, actual candidate for the presidency came 
upon them with the suddenness and surprise of a revelation. 
His advent to power as the ruler of a great people, hi the su- 
preme juncture of their affairs, to be the head of the state 
among its tried and trusted statesmen, to subordinate and co- 
ordinate the pride and ambition of leaders, the passions and in- 
terests of the masses, and to guide the destinies of a nation 
whose institutions were all framed for obedience to law and per- 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 647 

petiial domestic peace, througli rebellion, revolt, and civil war; 
and to the subversion of the very order of society of a vast ter- 
ritory and a vast population, finds no parallel in history ; and 
was a puzzle to all the astrologers and soothsayers. It has been 
said of George III. — whose narrow intellect and obstinate tem- 
per so greatly helped on the rebellion of our ancestors to our 
independence — it has been said of George III., that " it was his 
misfortune that, intended by nature to be a farmer, accident 
placed him on a throne." It was the happy fortune of the 
American people, that to the manifest advantages of freedom 
from jealousies of any rivals ; and from commitment, by any 
record, to schemes or theories or sects or cabals, pursued by no 
hatreds, beguiled by no attachments, Mr. Lincoln added a vigor- 
ous, penetrating, and capacious intellect, and a noble, generous 
nature which filled his conduct of the Government, in small 
things and great, from beginning to end, " with maKce to none 
and charity to all." These qualities were indispensable to the 
safety of the Government and to the prosperous issue of our 
civil war. . In the great crisis of a nation struggling with rebel- 
lion, the presence or absence of these personal traits in a ruler 
may make the tm^ning-point in the balance of its fate. Had 
Lincoln, in deahng with the administration of government dur- 
ing the late rebellion, insisted as George III. did, in his treat- 
ment of the American Revolution, upon " the right of employiag' 
as responsible advisers those only whom he personally liked, and 
who were ready to consult and execute his personal wishes," 
had he excluded from his counsels great statesmen like Seward 
and Chase, as King George did Fox and Burke, who can meas- 
ure^Jihe dishonor, disorder, and disaster into which our affairs 
might have fallen ? Such narrow intelligence and perversity are 
as little consistent with the true working of administration un- 
der om* Constitution as they were under the British Constitution, 
and as little consonant with the sound sense as they are with 
the generous spirit of our people. 

By the arrangement of his Cabinet, and his principal appoint- 
ments for critical services, Mr. Lincoln showed at once that na- 
ture had fitted him for a ruler, and accident only had hid his ear- 
lier life in obscurity. I cannot hesitate to think that the pres- 
ence of Mr. Seward and Mr. Chase in the great offices of State 



648 LII'E OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

and Treasury, and their faithful concurrence in the pubhc service 
and the public repute of the President's conduct of the Govern- 
ment, gave to the people all the benefits which might have justly 
been expected irom the election of either to be himseK the head 
of the Government and much else besides. I know of no war- 
rant in the qualities of human nature, to have hoped that either 
of these great political leaders would have made as good a 
minister under the administration of the other, as President, as 
both of them did under the administration of Mr. Lincoln. I 
see nothing in Mr. Lincoln's great qualities and great authority 
with this people, which could have commensurately served our 
need in any place, in the conduct of affairs, except at their head. 

The general importance, under a form of government where 
the confidence of the people is the breath of the life of execu- 
tive authority, of filling the great ofiices of state with men who, 
besides possessing the requisite special faculties for their several 
departments and large general powers of mind for politics and 
policies, have also great repute with the party, and great credit 
with the country, was well understood by the President. He 
knew that the times needed, in the high places of government, 
men " who," in Bolingbroke's phrase, " had built about them 
the opinion of mankind which, fame after death, is superior 
strength and power in life." 

Of the great abilities which Mr. Chase, in his administration 
of the Treasury, exhibited through the three arduous years of 
that public service, no question has ever been made. The ex- 
actions of the place knew no limits. A people, wholly unaccus- 
tomed to the pressure of taxation, and with an absolute horror 
of a national debt, was to be rapidly subjected to the first with- 
out stint, and to be buried under a mountain of the last. Taxes 
which should support military operations on the largest scale, 
and yet not break the back of industry which alone could pay 
them ; loans, in every form that financial skill could devise, and 
to the farthest verge of the public credit ; and, finally, the ex- 
treme resort of governments under the last stress and necessity, 
of the subversion of the legal tender, by the substitution of what 
has been aptly and accurately called the " coined credit " of the 
Government for its corned monej^ — all these exigencies and all 
these expedients made up the daily problems of the Secretary's 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 649 

life. "We may have some conception of the magnitude of these 
financial operations, by considering one of the subordinate con- 
trivances required to give to the currency of the country the 
enormous volume and the ready circulation without which the 
tides of revenue and expenditm-e could not have maintained 
their flow. I refer to the transfer of the paper money of the 
country from the State to the national banks. This transac- 
tion, financially and politically, transcends in magnitude and 
difficulty, of itself alone, any single measure of administrative 
government found in our history, yet the conception, the plan, 
and the execution, under the conduct of Mr. Chase, took less 
time and raised less disturbance than it is the custom of our 
politics to accord to a change in our tariff or a modification of a 
commercial treaty. Another special instance of difiicult and 
complicated administration was that of the renewal of the inter- 
com'se of trade, to follow closely the success of our arms, and 
subdue the interests of the recovered region to the requirements 
of the Government. But I cannot insist on details, where all 
was vast and surprising and prosperous. I hazard nothing in 
saying that the management of the finances of the civil war was 
the marvel of Europe and the admiration of our own people. 
For a great part of the wisdom, the courage, and the overwhelm- 
ing force of will which carried us through the stress of this 
stormy sea, the country stands imder deep obligations to Mr. 
Chase as its pilot through its fiscal perils and perplexities. 
Whether the genius of Hamilton, dealing with great difficulties 
and with small resources, transcended that of Chase, meeting 
the largest exigencies with great resources, is an unprofitable 
speculation. They stand together, in the judgment of their 
countiymen, the great financiers of our history. 

A somewhat persistent discrepancy of feeling and opinion 
between the President and the Secretary, in regard to an im- 
portant office in the public service, induced Mr. Chase to resign 
his portfolio, and Mr. Lincoln to acquiesce in his desire. 'No 
doubt, it is not wholly fortunate in our Government that the 
distribution of patronage, a mixed question of party organiza- 
tion and public ser\'ice, should so often harass and embarrass 
administration, even in difficult and dangerous times. Mr. 
Lincoln's ludicrous simile is an incomparable description of the 



650 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

system as lie found it. He said, at tlie outset of his administra- 
tion, that " he was hke a man letting rooms at one end of his 
house, while the other end was on fire." Some criticism of the 
Secretary's resignation and of the occasion of it, at the time, 
sought to impute to them consequences of personal acerbity be- 
tween these eminent men, and the mischiefs of competing am- 
bitions and discordant counsels for the public interests. But 
the appointment of Mr. Chase to the chief-justiceship of the 
United States silenced all this evil speech and evil surmise. 

There is no doubt that Mr. Chase greatly desired this office, 
its dignity and durability both considered, the greatest gratifica- 
tion, to personal desires, and the worthiest in public service, and 
in public esteem, that our political establishment affords. For- 
tmiate, indeed, is he who, in the estimate of the profession of 
the law, and in the general judgment of his countrymen, com- 
bines the great natural powers, the disciplined faculties, the 
large learning, the larger wisdom, the firm temper, the amiable 
serenity, the stainless purity, the sagacious statesmanship, the 
penetrating insight, which make up the qualities that should 
preside at this high altar of justice, and dispense to this great 
people the final decrees of a government " not of men, but of 
laws." To whatever President it comes, as a function of his 
supreme authority, to assign this great duty to the worthiest, 
there is given an opportunity of immeasurable honor for his own 
name, and of vast benefits to his countrymen, outlasting his own 
brief authority, and pei"petuating its remembrance in the per- 
manent records of justice, "the main interest of all human 
society," so long as it holds sway among men. John Adams, 
.from the Declaration of Independence down, and with the 
singular felicity of his line of personal descendants, has many 
titles to renown, but by no act of his life has he done more to 
maintain the constituted liberties which he joined in declaring, 
or to confirm his own fame, than by giving to the United States 
the great Chief -Justice Marshall, to be to us, forever, thi'ough 
every storm that shall beset our ship of state — 

"Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw, 
And saving them that eye it." 

In this disposition, Mr. Lincoln appointed Mr. Chase to the 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 651 

vacant seat, and tlie general voice recognized tlie great fitness 
of the selection. 

I may be permitted to borrow from the well-considered and 
sober words of an eminent jndge, tbe senior Associate on the 
bencb of the Supreme Court — words tbat will carry weiglit 
with the country which mine could not — a judicial estimate of 
this selection. Mr. Justice Clifford says: "Appointed, as it 
were, by common consent, he seated himself easily and naturally 
in the chair of justice, and gracefully answered every demand 
upon the station, whether it had respect to the dignity of the 
ofiice, or to the elevation of the individual character of the in- 
cumbent, or to his firmness, purity, or vigor of mind. From 
the first moment he drew the judicial robes around him he 
viewed all questions submitted to him as a judge in the calm 
atmosphere of the bench, and with the deliberate consideration 
of one who feels that he is determining issues for the remote 
and unknown future of a great people." 

Magistratus ostendit mrum — the magistracy shows out the 
man. A great ofiice, by its great requirements and great oppor- 
tunities, calls out and displays the great powers and rare quali- 
ties which, presumably, have raised the man to the place. Let 
us consider this last public service and last great station, as they 
exhibit Mr. Chase to a candid estimate. 

And, first, I notice the conspicuous fitness for judicial service 
of the mental and moral constitution of the man. All through 
the heady contests of the vehement politics of his times, his 
share in them had embodied decision, moderation, serenity, and 
inflexible submission to reason as the master and ruler of all 
controversies. Force, fraud, cunning, and all lubric arts and 
artifices, even the beguilements of rhetoric, found no favor with 
him, as modes of warfare or means of victory. So far, then, 
from needing to lay down any weapons, or disuse any methods 
in which he was practised, or learn or assume new habits of 
mmd or strange modes of reasoning, Mr. Chase, in the working 
of his intellect and the frame of his spirit, was always judicial. 

It was not less fortunate for the prompt authority of his 
new station, so dependent upon the opinion of the comitry, that 
his credit for great abilities and capacity for large responsi- 
bilities was already established. Great repute, as well as essen- 



-I. 

652 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE 

tial cliaracter, is justly demanded for all elevated public stations, 
and especially for judicial office, wliose prosperous service, in 
capital junctui'es, turns mainly on moral power with the com- 
munity at large. 

Both these preparations easily furnished the Chief-Justice 
with the requisite aptitude for the three relations, of prime im- 
portance, upon which his adequacy must finally he tested ; I 
mean, his relation to the court as its presiding head, his relation 
to the profession as masters of the reason and debate over which 
the court is the arbiter, and his relation to the people and the 
State in the exercise of the critical constitutional duties of the 
court, as a coordinate department of the Government. 

In a numerous court, that the Chief-Justice should have a 
prevalent and gracious authority, as first among equals, to adjust, 
arrange, and facilitate the cooperative working of its members, 
will not be doubted. For more than sixty years, at least, this 
court had felt this authority— ;^ofens et lenis dominatio — in the 
presence of the two celebrated Chief -Justices who filled out this 
long service. Their great experience and great age had sup- 
ported, and general conformity of political feeling, if not opin- 
ion, on the bench, had assisted, this relation of the Chief-Justice 
to the court. 

When Mr. Chase was called to this station, he found the 
bench filled with men of mark and credit, and his accession made 
an exactly equal division of the court between the creations of 
the old and of the new politics. In these circumstances the prop- 
er maintenance of the traditional relation of the Chief-Justice 
to the court was of much importance to its unbroken authority 
with the public. That it was so maintained was apparent to ob- 
servation, and Mr. Justice Clifford, speaking for the court, has 
shown it in a most amiable light : 

" Throughout his judicial career he always maintained that 
dignity of carriage and that calm, noble, and unostentatious pres- 
ence that uniformly characterized liis manners and deportment 
in the social circle ; and, in his intercourse with his brethren, his 
suggestions were always couched in friendly tei*ms, and were 
never marred by severity or harshness." 

As for the judgment of the bar of the country, while it gave 
its full assent to the appointment of Mr. Chase, as an elevated 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 653 

and wise selection by the President, upon the general and public 
grounds which should always control, there was some hesitancy, 
on the part of the lawyers, as to the completeness of Mr. Chase's 
professional training, and the special aptitude of his intellect to 
thread the tangled mazes of affairs which form the body of pri- 
vate litigations. The doubt was neither unkind nor unnatural, 
and it was readily and gladly resolved under the patient and 
laborious application, and the accurate and discriminating in- 
vestigation, with which the Chief -Justice handled the diversified 
subjects, and the manifold complexities, which were brought into 
judgment before him. In fact, the original dubitation had over- 
looked the earlier distinction of Mr. Chase at the bar in some 
most important forensic efforts, and had erred in comparing, for 
their estimate, ]VIr. Chase entering upon judicial employments, 
with his celebrated predecessors, as they showed themselves at 
the close, not at the outset, of their long judicial service, I feel 
no fear of dissent from the profession in sajdng that those who 
practised in the Circuit or in the Supreme Court while he pre- 
sided, as well as the larger and widely-diffused body of lawyers 
who give competent and responsible study to the reports, recog- 
nize the force of his reason, the clearness of his perceptions, the 
candor of liis opinions, and the lucid rhetoric of his judgments, 
as assuring his rank with the eminent judges of our own and the 
mother-country. 

But, in the most imposing part of the jurisdiction and juris- 
prudence of the court ; in its dominion over all that belongs to 
the law of nations, whether occupied with the weighty questions 
of peace and war, and the multitudinous disturbances of public 
and private law which follow the change from one to the other ; 
or with the complications of foreign intercourse and commerce 
with all the world, which the genius of our people is constantly 
expanding ; in its control, also, of the lesser public law of our 
political system, by which we are a nation of republics, where 
the bounds of State and Federal authority need constant explo- 
ration, and require accurate and circumspect adjustment ; in its 
final arbitrament on all conflicts and encroachments by which the 
great coordinate departments of the Government are to be con- 
fined to their appropriate spheres ; in that delicate and superb 
supremacy of judicial reason whereby the Constitution confides 



654 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

to the deliberations of this court the determination, even, of the 
legality of legislation, and trusts it, nevertheless, to abstain it- 
self from law-making— in all these transcendent functions of the 
tribunal the preparation and the adequacy of the Chief-Justice 
were unquestioned. 

Accordingly, we find in the few years of his service, before 
his decline in health, in the crowd of causes bred by the civil 
war, which pressed the court with novel embarrassments, and 
loaded it with imprecedented labors, that the Chief- Justice gave 
consiDicuous evidence, in repeated instances, of that union of the 
faculties of a lawyer and a statesman, which alone can satisfy 
the exactions of this highest jmisdiction, unequaled 'and unex- 
ampled in any judicature in the world. To name these conspic- 
uous causes merely, without unfolding them, would carry no 
impression ; and time fails for any demonstrative criticism upon 
them. 

There are two passages in the judicial service of Mr. Chase 
which, attracting great attention and exciting some difference of 
opinion at the time of the transactions, invite a brief considera- 
tion at yom' hands. 

The first political impeachment in our constitutional history, 
involving, as it did, th6 "accusation of the President of the 
United States, required the Chief-Justice to preside at the trial 
before the Senate, creating thus the tribunal to which the Con- 
stitution had assigned this high jm-isdiction. Beyond the in- 
junction that the Senate, when sitting for the trial of impeach- 
ments, should be " on oath," the Constitution gave no instruction 
to fix or ascertain the character of the procedure, the nature of 
the duty assigned to the specially-organized court, or the distri- 
bution of authority between the Chief -Justice and the Senate. 
The situation lacked no feature of gravity — no circmnstance of 
soHcitude — and the attention of the whole country, and of 
foreign nations, watched the transaction at every stage of its 
progress. 'No circumstances could present a greater disparity of 
political or popular forces between accuser and accused, and none 
could be imagined of more thorough commitment of the body of 
the court — the Senate — both in the interests of its members, in 
their political feeling, and their pre-judgments ; all tending to 
<make the condemnation of the President, upon all. superficial 



WILLIAM M EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 655 

calculations, inevitable. The effort of the Constitution to guard 
against mere partisan judgment, by requiring a two-third vote 
to convict, was paralyzed by the complexion of the Senate, show- 
ing more than four-fifths of that body of the party which had 
instituted the impeachment and was demanding conviction. To 
this party, as well, the Chief-Justice belonged, as a founder, a 
leader, a recipient of its honors, and a lover of its prosperity and 
its fame. The President, raised to the office from that of Yice- 
President — ^to which alone he had been elected — by the deplored 
event of Mr. Lincoln's assassination, was absolutely without a 
party, in the Senate or in the country ; for the party whose suf- 
frages he had received for the vice-presidency was the hostile 
force in his impeachment. And, to bring the matter to the 
worst, the succession to all the executive power and patronage 
of the Government, in case of conviction, was to fall into the ad- 
ministration of the President of the Senate — the creature, thus, 
of the very court invested with the duty of trial and the power 
of conviction. 

Against all these immense influences, confirmed and inflamed 
by a stoiTu of party violence, beating against" the Senate-house 
without abatement through the trial, the President was ac- 
quitted. To what wise or f(Jl'tunate protection of the stability 
of government does the people of this coimtry owe its escape 
from this great peril ? Solely, I cannot hesitate to think, to the 
potency — with a justice-loving, law-respecting people — of the 
few decisive words of the Constitution which, to the common 
ajDprehension, had impressed upon the transaction the solemn 
character of trial and conviction, under the sanction of the oath 
to bind the conscience, and not of the mere exercise of power, of 
which its will should be its reason. In short, the Constitution 
had made the procedure judicial, and not ])olitical. It was this 
sacred interposition that stayed this plague of political resent- 
ments which, with their less sober and intelligent populations, 
have thwarted so many struggles for free government and equal 
institutions. 

Over this scene, through all its long agitations, the Chief- 
Justice presided, with firmness and prudence, with circumspect 
comprehension, and sagacious forecast of the vast consequences 
which hung, not upon the result of the trial as affecting any per- 



656 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

sonal fortunes of tlie President, but upon the maintenance of 
its character as a trial — upon the prevalence of law, and the su- 
premacy of justice, in its methods of procedure, in the grounds 
and reasons of its conclusion. That his authority was greatly 
influential in fixing the true constitutional relations of the Chief- 
Justice to the Senate, and establishing a precedent of procedm*e 
not easily to be subverted ; that it was felt, throughout the trial, 
with persuasive force, in the maintenance of the judicial nature 
of the transaction ; and that it never went a step beyond the 
ofiice which belonged to him — of presiding over the Senate try- 
ing an impeachment — is not to be doubted. 

The President was acquitted. The disappointment of the 
political calculations which had been made upon, what was felt 
by the partisans of impeachment to be, an assured result, was 
unbounded ; and resentments, rash and unreasoning, were \ds- 
ited upon the Chief-Justice, who had influenced the Senate to 
be judicial, and had not himself been political. 'No doubt, this 
impeachment trial permanently affected the disposition of the 
leading managers of the Pepublican party toward the Chief- 
Justice, and his attitude thereafter toward that party, in his char- 
acter of a citizen. But the people of the country never assumed 
any share of the resentment of party feeling. The charge against 
him, if it had any shape or substance, came only to this : that 
the Chief -Justice brought into the Senate, under his judicial 
robes, no concealed weapons of party warfare, and that he had 
not plucked from the Bible, on which he took and administered 
the judicial oath, the commandment for its observance. 

ISTot long after Mr. Chase's accession to the bench there 
came before the court a question, in substance and in form, as 
grave and difficult as any that its transcendent jurisdiction over 
the validity of the legislation of Congress, has ever presented, 
or, in any forecast we can make of the future, will ever present 
for its judgment ; I mean the constitutionality of that feature 
and quality of the issues of United States notes during the war, 
which made them a legal tender for the satisfaction of private 
debts. This measure was one of the great administrative ex- 
pedients for marshaling the wealth of the country, as rapidly, 
as equally, and as healthfully, to the energies of production and 
industry, as might be, and so as seasonably to meet the immeas- 



WILLUM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. G57 

ni'able demands of tlie public service, in tlie stress of the war. 
That it was debated and adopted, with full cognizance of its 
critical character, and with extreme solicitude that all its bear- 
ings should be thoroughly explored, and upon the same per- 
emptory considerations, upon which the master of a ship cuts 
away a mast or jettisons cargo, or the surgeon amputates a limb, 
was a matter of history. Mr. Chase, as Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, with a reluctance and repugnance which enhanced the 
weight of his counsels, approved the measure, as one of neces- 
sity for the fiscal operations of the Government, which knew no 
other seasonable or adequate recourse. Upon this imposing and 
authoritative ad\ace of the financial minister, the legal-tender 
trait of the paper issues of the Government was adopted by 
Congi-ess, and without his sanction, presumptively, it would have 
been denied. 

And now, when, after repeated argument at the bar, and 
long deliberations of the court, the decision was announced, the 
determining opinion of the Chief-Justice, in an equal division 
of the six associate justices, pronounced the legal-tender acts un- 
constitutional, as not within the discretion of the poHtical de- 
partments of the Government, Congress, and the Executive, to 
determine this very question of the necessity of the juncture, as 
justifying their enactment. 

The singularity of the situation struck everybody, and greatly 
divided public sentiment between applause and reproaches of 
the Chief-Justice, as the principal figure both in the adminis- 
trative measure and in its judicial condemnation. But soon, a 
new phase of the unsettled agitation on the merits of the consti- 
tutional question, drew public attention, and created even greater 
excitement of feeling and diversity of sentiment. The court, 
which had been reduced by Congress under particular and tem- 
porary motives, hostile to the appointing power of President 
Johnson, had been again opened by Congress to its permanent 
number, and its vacancies had been filled. A new case, involv- 
ing the vexed question, was heard by the court, and the validity 
of the disputed laws was sustained by its judgment. The signal 
spectacle of the court, which had judged over Congress and the 
Secretary, now judging over itself, gave rise to much satire on 
one side and the other, and to some coarseness of contumely as 
43 



C58 I^I^ OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, 

to the motives and the means of these eventful mutations in 
matters, where stability and uniformity are, confessedly, of the 
highest value to the public interests, and to the dignity of gov- 
ernment. 

Confessing to a firm approval of the final disposition of the 
constitutional question by the court, I concede it to be a sub- 
ject of thorough regret that the just result was not reached by 
less imcertain steps. But, with this my adverse attitude to the 
Chief-Justice's judicial position on the question, I find no difli- 
culty in discarding all suggestions which would mix up political 
calculations with his judicial action. The error of the Chief -Jus- 
tice, if, under the last judgment of the court, we may ventm'e so 
to consider it, was in following his strong sense of the supreme 
importance of restoring the integrity of the currency, and his 
impatience and despair at the feebleness of the political depart- 
ments of the Government in that direction, to the point of con- 
cluding that the final wisdom of this great question — inter 
apices juris, as well as of the highest reasons of state — was to 
deny to the brief exigency of war, what was so dangerous to the 
permanent necessities of peace. But a larger reason and a wider ' 
prudence, as it would seem, favor the prevailing judgment, 
which refused to cripple the peimanent faculties of government 
for the unforeseen duties of the future, and drew back the court 
from the perilous edge of law-making, which, overpassed, must 
react to cripple, in turn, the essential judicial power. The past, 
\ thus, was not discredited, nor the future disabled. 

I have now carried your attention to the round of public 
service which fiUed the life of Mr. Chase with activity and use- 
fulness, and yet the survey and the lesson are incomplete with- 
out some reference to a station he never attained, to an office 
he never administered ; I mean, to be sure, the presidency. It 
is of the nature of this great place of power and trust, and the 
necessity of the method by which alone it can be reached, to 
present to the ambition and public spirit of political leaders, 
and to the honest hopes and enthusiasm of the great body of 
the people, an equally frequent disappointment. This is not 
the place to insist upon the reasons of this unquestionable mis- 
chief, nor to attempt to point out the escape from them, if in- 
deed the problem be not, in itself, too hard for solution. To 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 659 

Mr. Chase, as to all tlie great leaders of opinion in tlie present 
and perhaps the last generation of onr public men, this disap- 
pointment came, and in his case, as in theirs, brought with it 
the defeat of the hopes and desires of a large following of his 
countrjnnen, who sought, through his accession to the presidency, 
the elevation of the Government, and the welfare of the people. 

That the range and dignity of Mr. Chase's public employ- 
ments and the large capacity, absolute probity, and unbounded 
energy which he had shown in them, justified his aspiration to 
the presidency, and the public calculations of great benefit from 
his accession to it, may not be doubted. In this state of things 
it is obvious, that he would necessarily be greatly in the minds 
of men, as a candidate for the candidacy, and this, too, whether 
they favored or opposed it, without any implication of midue 
activity of desire, much less of effort, on his part, to obtain the 
nomination. But, it was not in the fortunes of Mr. Chase's 
life to take the flood of any tide, in the restless sea of our poli- 
tics, which led on to the presidency. In 1860 there was no 
principle and no policy of the Republican party which could 
tolerate the postponement of Mr. Seward to Mr. Chafec, 11 ^ 
political leader was to be put in nomination. In 1864 the para- 
mount considerations of absolute supremacy, which dictated the 
reelection of Mr. Lincoln, would endure no competition of can- 
didates in the Republican party.. In 1868, when each party 
seemed, in an unusual degi-ee, free to seek and find its candi- 
dates where it would, Mr. Chase was Chief -Justice, and no issue 
of the public safety existed, which alone, in the settled convic- 
tions of this people, would favor a political canvass by the head 
of the judiciary. 

In a just view of the office of President, as framed in the 
Constitution, which he only, in the whole establisliment of the 
Government, is sworn "to preserve,, protect, and defend," and 
of the rightful demands of this people from its supreme ma- 
gistracy, I am sure most people will agree that Mr. Chase pos- 
sessed great qualities for the discharge of its high du^^^ies, and 
for the maintenance of good government in difficult times. 
These qualifications I have already unfolded from his life. 
If, indeed, the great hold over the Government, which the 
Constitution secures to the people by the election of the Presi- 



660 LIFE OF SALMON P0RTLA2fD CHASE. 

dent, and his direct and constant responsibility to popular opin- 
ion, and the full powers, thus safely confided to him, in the 
name and as the trust of the people at large — if this hold is to 
be exercised and preserved in its appropriate vigor, it can only 
be by the election to the presidency of true leaders of the politi- 
cal opinion of the country. In this way alone can power and 
responsibility be kept in union ; and any nation which, in the 
working of its government, sees them divorced — sees power 
without responsibihty, and responsibility without power — must 
expect dishonor and disaster in its affairs. 

I have, thus, with such success as may be, undertaken to 
separate the thread of this individual character and action from 
that woven tapestry of human life, whose concihated colors and 
collective force make up one of the noblest chapters of history. 
I have attempted to present in prominent points, passing per 
fastigia rerum, the worth, the work, the duty, and the honor 
which fill out " the sustained dignity of this stately life." From 
his boyhood on the banks of this fair river — famous as having 
given birth and nm'ture to three Chief -Justices of the United 
States, Ellsworth, Chase, and Waite ; through his first lessons 
in the humanities in beautiful Windsor, his fuller instruction 
in the lap of this gracious mother, his loved and venerated 
Dartmouth ; thi'ough his lessons in law and in eloquence at the 
feet of his great master, "Wirt, his study of statesmen and gov- 
ernment at the capital ; through his faithful service to the law, 
tliat jealous mistress, and his generous advocacy of the rights, 
and resentment of the wrongs, of the unfriended and the im- 
defended ; through his season of stormy politics with its " estua- 
tions of joys and fears ; " through the crush and crowd of labors 
and solicitudes which beset him as minister of finance in the 
tensions and perils of war ; through all this steep ascent to the 
serene height of supreme jurisprudence, this life, biit a span in 
years, was enough for the permanent service of his country, and 
for the assurance of his fame. " Etenim^ QuiriteSy exiguum no- 
his vitce curriculum natura circumscripsit, iinmensum glorioiP 

If I should attempt to compare Mr. Chase, either in resem- 
blance or contrast, with the great names in our public life, of 
om* own times, and in om* previous history, I should be inclined 
to class him, in the solidity of his faculties, the firmness of his 



WILLIAM M. EVARTS'S EULOGY ON MR. CHASE. 661 

will, and in tlie moderation of his temper, and in tlie quality of 
his public services, with that remarkable school of statesmen, 
who, through the Eevolutionary "War, wrought out the indepen- 
dence of their country, which they had declared, and framed the 
Constitution, by which the new liberties were consolidated and 
their perpetuity insured. Should I point more distinctly at 
individual characters, whose traits he most recalls, Ellsworth as 
a lawyer and judge, and Madison as a statesman, would seem 
not only the most hke, but very like, Mr. Chase. In the groups 
of his cotemporaries in public affairs, Mr. Chase is always named 
with the most eminent. In every triumvirate of conspicuous 
activity he would be naturally associated. Thus, in the prelimi- 
nary agitations which prepared the triumphant politics, it is 
Chase and Sumner and Hale ; in the competition for the presi- 
dency when the party expected to carry it, it is Seward and 
Lincoln and Chase ; in administration, it is Stanton and Seward 
and Chase; in the Senate, it is Chase and Seward and Smnner. 
All these are newly dead, and we accord them a common hom- 
age of admiration and of gratitude, not yet to be adjusted or^ 
weighed out to each. 

Just a quarter of a century before Mr. Chase left these halls 
of learning, the college sent out another scholar of her disci- 
pline, with the same general traits of birth, and condition, and 
attendant influences, which we have noted as the basis of the 
power and influence of this later son of Dartmouth. He played 
a fiimous part in his time as lawyer, senator, and minister of 
state, in all the greatest affairs, and in all the highest spheres of 
public action; and to his eloquence his counti-ymen paid the 
singular homage, with which the Greeks crowned that of Peri- 
cles, who alone was called Olympian for his grandeur and his 
power. He died with the turning tide from the old statesman- 
ship to the new, then opening, now closed, in which Mr. Chase 
and his cotemporaries have done their work and made their 
fame. Twenty-one years ago this venerable college, careful of 
the memory of one who had so greatly served as well, as honored 
herj heard from the lips of Choate the praise of "Webster. 
What lover of the college, what admu-er of genius and eloquence, 
can forget the pathetic and splendid tribute which the con- 
summate orator paid to the mighty fame of the great statesman ? 



662 LIFE OF SALMON PORTLAND CHASE. 

"What mattered it to liim, or to the college, tliat, for the moment, 
this fame was checked and clouded, in the divided judgments 
of his countrymen, by the rising storms of the approaching 
struggle ? But, instructed by the experience of the vanquished 
rebellion, none are now so dull as not to see that the consoli- 
dation of the Union, the demonstration of the true doctrine of 
the Constitution, the solicitous observance of every obligation 
of the compact, were the great preparations for the final issue 
of American politics between freedom and slavery. 

To these preparations the life-work of "Webster and his as- 
sociates was devoted; their completeness and adequacy have 
been demonstrated ; the force and magnitude of the explosion 
have justified all their solicitudes lest it should burst the cohe- 
sions of our unity. The general sense of our countrymen now 
understands that the statesmen who did the most to secure the 
common government for slavery and freedom under the frame 
of the Constitution, and who in the next generations did the 
most to strengthen the bonds of the Union, and to avert the last 
test till that strength was assured ; and, in our own latest times, 
did the most to make the contest at last become seasonable 
and safe, thorough and unyielding and unconditional, have all 
wrought out the great problem of our statesmanship, which was 
to assure to us, " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and 
inseparable." They all deserve, as they shall all receive, each 
for his share, the gratitude of their countrymen, and the applause 
of the world. 

To the advancing generations of youth that Dartmouth shall 
continue to train for the service of the republic, and the good 
of mankind, the lesson of the life we commemorate, to-day, is 
neither obscure nor uncertain. The toils and honors of the past 
generations have not exhausted the occasions nor the duties of 
our public life, and the preparation for them, whatever else it 
may include, can never omit the essential qualities which have 
always marked every prosperous and elevated career. These 
are energy, labor, truth, courage, and faith. These make up 
that ultimate wisdom to which the moral constitution of the 
world assures a triumph. — " Wisdom is the principal thing ; she 
shall bring thee to honor ; she shall give to thy head an orna- 
ment of grace ; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." 



IlSr DEX. 



Abbott, Lthian, letter to, 525. 

Abolitionists, their sentiments, as ex- 
pressed by Mr. Garrison in 1842, 67. 

Adams, Greene, letter to, on Kentucky 
atfairs, 428. 

Advertisement for School, at Washington, 
22. 

Ammen, Captain Daniel, letter to, 435. 

Anderson, Larz, letter to, on war expen- 
ditures, 430. 

Anti-Nebraska party, in Ohio, 165. 

Army, estimates, 1861, 233; strength of, 
December, 1861, 235; strength of, dur- 
ing the war, 350. 

Ashley, J. M., letter to, 519. 

Assistant Treasurer's^ office, New York; 
Sir. Cisco's resignation, 484. 

" Attomey-Generrd for negroes," 52. 

Ball, Flamen, letter to, 498. 

Banks, representatives of, confer with Mr. 
Chase, 225 ; loans of, to Government, in 
1861, 227, 228; urge Mr. Chase to forego 
issue of U. S. notes, 230 ; suspend specie 
payments, 231 ; national, proposed by 
• Mr. Chase, 240 ; condition of State, iu 
1861, 282 ; brief history of State, 285, 
note ; Mr. Chase renews recommenda- 
tion of national, ib. / Mr. Hooper intro- 
duces bUl into Congress, 292; further 
arguments of Mr. Chase, 293 ; national 
system, sanctioned by Congress, 296 ; 
leatling features of the system, 296, et 
seq. ; change of public sentiment, in re- 
lation to national, 301 ; amendatory act, 
302 ; vote on amendatory act, 307 ; con- 
dition of national, in October, 1865, 309 ; 
idem., in 1873, 310. 

Bar, Mr. Chase's admission to, 30. 

Barnburner Democrats of New York, their 
witlidrawal, in 1848, from National 
Democratic Convention, 83 ; their State 
Convention, and nomination of Mr. Van 
Buren, 84. 

Barney, Hiram, letter to, 275; appoint- 
ment of, as collector at New York, 477 ; 
"Conservative" assaults upon, 478 ; let- 
ter to, 495 ; correspondence between 
Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Chase about, 495 ; 
letter to, on "Chase movement" in 
1868, 583. 

Beales, E. F., letter to, 392. 



' bank- 



Belmontj August, letters to, 277 ; letter to, 

on suftrage, 584. 
Bigelow, John, letter to, 514. 
Bimey, James G., 39 ; employs the slave 

IVIatuda, 41 ; trial of, for harboring Ma- 

tildaj 43 ; antislavery candidate for 

President, 46. 
" Bimey mob," 39. 
Black laws, repeal of, in Ohio, 96. 
Blood^ood, S. Dewitt, letters to, " 

ing law and tax bUl," 402. 
Bonds, $50,000,000 sis per cent., issued to 

banks in 1861, in exchange for coin, 228. 
Bonfils, Columbus, Mr. Chase's first pupil, 

Breslin, John G., letter to, 101 ; the Bres- 

lin defalcation, 186. 
Brougham, Lord, Mr. Chase's eulogy on, 

Brown, John, his raid at Harper's Ferry, 
191 ; extract from Mr. Chase's message, 
192. 

Brown, Colonel WiUiam, letter to, 592. 

Biyant, Wm. C, letters to, financial ob- 
jects, 405; McDowell and McClellan, 
450 ; letter to, on the Democratic move- 
ment in 1868, 588. 

Buffalo Free-Sou Convention of 1848, 85 ; 
its action, 85 ; its residts, 87. 

Bunitt, Elihu, letter to, views of Mr. Chase 
prior to the war, 380. 

Butler, Benj. F., of New York, Mr. Chase's 
letter to, in 1852, 130. 

Butler, General B. F., letters to, on slavery, 
375, 376. 

Cable, Joseph, letter to, about General 
Fremont, 432. 

California, slavery exclusion in, 107. 

Cameron, Secretary of "War, his embarrass- 
ments, 220 ; dismissed from war-office, 
237 ; letter to, on war expenditures, 279. 

Carey, Henry C, letter to, 364. 

Carey, S. F., letter to, 398. 

Carlile, John S., letter to, on matters in 
"West Virginia, 425. 

Carhsle, George, letter to, 431. 

Carrington, Colonel H. B., interview with 
Secretary Cass, 181 ; publishes a volume 
of militarv regulations, 186. 

Carson, E. T., letter to, 451. 

Caucus, Free-Sou members of Ohio Legis- 



664 



INDEX. 



lature ia IS-iS, 92 ; retiring of Morse and 
Townshend, 92. 

Certificates of indebtedness, 270. 

Chase, Itliamar, birth and marriage, 3; 
death, 8. 
" Dudley, 3 {see also 23). 
" Kev. Carleton, letter to, 389. 
" Edwin J., letter to, 32. 
" Estate, 2, note. 
" Miss Kate, letters to, 468, 469. 
" Miss Janet E., letters to, "taking 
of Norfolk," 366, et seq. {see 
also 520). 
" Bishop Philander, 4, 10, 16, 21. 
" Statutes of Ohio, 34. 

Chase, Salmon Portland, birth of, 1 ; goes 
to Ohio, 10 ; returns to New Hampshire, 
17 ; at Dartmouth College, 19 ; at Wash- 
ington, 22 ; pupil of William "Wirt, 26 ; 
admitted to the bar, 30 ; at Cincinnati, 
31: Chase's "Statutes of Ohio," 34; 
I' Bimey mob," 39 ; Matilda case, 41 ; 
joins antislaveiy movement, 47 ; basis 
of his antislavery, 46: case or John 
Van Zandt, 52 ; the w atson case, 74 ; 
Buifalo Convention, 85; elected U. S. 
Senator, 93 ; takes his seat in that body, 
105 ; compromise measures of 1850, 107, 
et seq. ; opposes them, 110, and fugitive 
slave act, 123; appeal of Independent 
Democrats, 140 ; opposes repeal of Mis- 
souri prohibition, 151, et seq.; elected 
Governor of Ohio, 169; reelected U. S. 
Senator, 194; Peace Conference, mem- 
ber of, 203 ; Secretary of the Treasury, 
207 ; proposes national banking system, 
240 ; hostility to legal-tender paper, 242, 
et seq. ; judicial oiDmion on legal tender, 
in HepbmTi vs. Griswold, 258 ; national 
banking system sanctioned by Congress, 
296; five-twenties, negotiation of, 345; 
ten-forties, 350; candidate for Presi- 
dent, 1864, 476; resigns the Treasury, 

- 486 ; is appomted Chief-Justice, 488 ; 
Jefterson Davis's trial, 535, et seq. ; pre- 
sides upon impeachment of Andrew 
Johnson, 550, et seq.; the " Chase move- 
ment" in the Democratic party, 560; 
personal characteristics, 594 ; the last 
scene of all, 619-625. 

Chief- Justice, Mr. Chase appointed to be, 
488; correspondence concerning, 512; 
powers of, in Senate court of im^^each- 
ment, 551. 

Chittenden, Sterne," letter to, 455. 

Cincinnati College, at school at, 15. 

Cincinnati, Mr. Chase's arrival there in 
1830, 31. 

Cisco, John J., resigns office, 484; letter 
and telegram to, 506 ; to Mr. Chase, 509. 

Clarke, Peter H., and Corbin, J. C, Cin- 
cinnati, letter to, suffrage and amnesty, 
531. 

Cleveland, Charles Dexter, letters to, 28, 
30, 33, 95. 

Cochrane, General John, letter to, " Gen- 
eral McClellan," 457. 

Coin, insufficient supply for war purposes, 
230 ; premium on, 255 ; probable amount 



in the country in 1861, 283 ; legislation 
to prevent advance in price of, 356 ; fu- 
tility of, 360, 361 ; rate of premium, 361. 

Colyer, John, letter to, 591. 

Compound - interest - bearing notes out- 
standing on June 30, 1864, 342. 

Compromise measures of 1850, 109 ; Mr. 
Chase's speech on, 109, et seq. 

Congress, Mr. Chase's description of, in 
1828, 27. 

Conkling, Eoscoe, against legal tender, 
245. 

Cooke, Jay, agent for seven-thirties, 229 ; 
agent for five-twenties, 345 ; letter to, 
declinuig profits, 390; letter to, 432; 
letter to, 503. 

Cotton, extraordinary advance in price of, 
322 ; evil efiects of speculation in, 322 ; 
no gold or silver allowed to be paid for, 
325. 

Court, Circuit, Mr. Chase refuses to hold 
' in Southern States till abrogation of 
martial law and restoration of writ of Ita- 
ieas corpus, 535, et seq. ; com! at Kaleigh, ■ 
June, 1867, 543. 

Cowdin, Elliott C, letter to, 363. 

Cranch, Justice, examines Mr. Chase, 30. 

Custom-house, investigation of, in New 
York, 478. 

Dartmouth College, Mr. Chase enters and 
graduates there, 19, 21. 

Davis, Garret, letter to, on Kentucky af- 
fairs, 276. 

Davis, Jefferson, capture of, 533 ; the pun- 
ishment that might lawfully be inflicted 
upon him, 534 ; its inadequacy, 534 ; why 
Mr. Chase did not hold court in Vir- 
ginia, 535, et seq.; proposed application 
to release on baU, 537 ; is pardoned, 
545. 

Demand-notes, $50,000,000 authorized, 
221 ; issued, 224. 

Democratic party, the real, aims at extinc- 
tion of slavery, 71 ; proposed nomi- 
nation of Mr. Chase in 1868, 560. 

Dennison, Mr. Chase's letter to Governor 
William, resigning seat in the Senate, 
207. 

Depreciation of U. S. notes, 254, 255. 

Diary, extracts from Mr. Chase's: On 
military affairs in Virginia, 436 ; the 
President on slavery and the war, 439 ; 
urges removal of General McClellan, 440 ; 
advocates anning of slaves, 441 ; pro- 
tests against contmuing General McClel- 
lan in command, 443 ; " Notes on Union 
of the Armies of the Potomac and the 
Army of Virginia," 445 j danger to 
Washington, 452; concerning his resig- 
nation from the Treasury, 509 ; his rela- 
tions with Mr. Lincoln, 510, 511 ; mur- 
der of the President, 518. 

Dickinson, Daniel S., letter to, 494. 

Direct tax, $20,000,000, authorized, 222; 
history of, 223. 

Dix, John A., Mr. Chase's letter to, 158. 

Dodge, Wm. E., letter to, specie the basis 
of soimd cmTency, 400. 



INDEX. 



665 



Douglas, Slephen A., on the original Ne- 
braska BUI, 127 ; reports Nebraska Bill 
of 1854, 135 ; makes some delicate ques- 
tions clear by proposing repeal of Mis- 
souri Compromise, 138 ; denounces ap- 
peal of the Independent Democrats, 149. 

Drake, Charles D., at school at Worthing- 
ton, 13 ; extracts from remarks of, 35 ; 
in the impeachment trial of President 
Johnson, 554. 

Duer, Denning, letter to, 505. 

Duflield, Miss Eliza S., letter to, 404. 

Duganne, Colonel A. J. H,, letter to, 592. 

Duties, taiifl", authorized at the extra ses- 
sion, 1861, 222 ; internal, 233. 

Education, Mr. Chase's letter on, 170. 

Emancipation, early views of Mr, Chase 
on, 276 ; 375, 376 ; the President's proc- 
lamation, 453; Mr. Chase's letter and 
draft of proclamation, 461, 463. 

Emigrant Aid Societies, 164. 

Estimates for 1862, 216 ; of the value of the 
nation's real and personal property, 234. 

Exchange, foreign, Treasury sales of, 361. 

Fessenden, "W. P., on legal tender, 247 ; 
letter of Mr. Chase to, on importance of 
taxation, 385 ; letter to, on financial 
matters, 414; the chief-justiceship, 512. 

Field, Associate-Justice Stephen J., letter 
to, on reconstruction, 526. 

Field, M. B., nominated Assistant Treas- 
urer at New York, 484. 

Finances, disordered condition of, in 1861, 
209, 211 ; Mr. Chase's financial objects 
suimnarized, 406 ; results of those meas- 
ures, 410: letter of Mr. Chase to Colo- 
nel Van Buren on, 412 ; to Mr. Fessen- 
den, 414. 

Fiscal operations for fiscal year 1861, 214; 
to November, 1861, 231. 

Five-twenties, negotiation of, 345, et eeq.j 
splendid success of that loan, 348. 

Flanders, Benj. F., letter to, 389. 

Fractional currency, 341. 

Freedmen's Bureau, origin of, 328. 

Fremont, General John C, letter to, 275; 
Mr. Chase on his proclamation against 
slavery, 277. 

Fugitive slave law of 1793, unconstitu- 
tional, 75; Mr. Chase's earnest opposi- 
tion to that of 1850, 114; Mason's bill, 
124 ; evil results of, 128. 

Funding loans, Mr. Chase's objects in re- 
spect of, 407. 

Gaines, Eiehard, letter to, 580. 

Garfield. General, letter to, 467 ; General 
Garfield to Mr. Schuckers, 026. 

Garner, Margaret, the tragical liistory of, 
171. 

Gamson, "William Lloyd, views on aboli- 
tion, 67. 

Gei-man method of making war contrasted 
with the American method, 351, note. 

Gibson, Wm. H. ; Breslin's defalcation, 
186. 



Giddings, J. E., candidate for U. S. Senate 
in 1848, 93 ; letter of Mr. Chase to, 93 ; 
id., 100. 

Gillmore, General Q. A., letter to, on mil- 
itary progress, 396. 

" Gold BUI,'/ 359. 

Gold, premium on, 255 ; futile efforts to 
prevent advance in price of, 356 ; Gov- 
ernment sales, 358; average premium 
on, 362; tables of premium for four 
years, 631. 

Governor, election of Mr. Chase to be, of 
Ohio, 169 ; reelection, 188. 

Grant, General, letter to, 470. 

Gray, William, letter to, 433. 

Greeley, Horace, letters to, financial, 386 ; 
personal, 394; letter to, in defense of 
Mr. Stanton, 452. 

Greene County slave-hunt, 177. 

Griswold, George, letter to, on the war, 
387. 

Guthrie, James, letter to, on supplies to 
rebels, 426. 

Habeas corpus, Mr, Chase refuses to hold 
court in rebel States during suspensions 
of, 535. 

Hall, James C, letters to, " the presiden- 
cy," 497, 502. 

Halstead, Murat, letters to, 281 ; on " Stan- 
ton," 398 ; on military aflairs, 436 ; " thii-d 
party," 682. 

Hamilton, Alexander, on paper issues by 
Government, 240, note. 

Hamilton County, Ohio, Whig division of, 
in 1847, 90. 

Hamilton, John C, letter to, 278. 

Harrington, George, for legal tender, 243 
{see also, 224, 512). 

Harrison, Wm. H., Mr. Chase votes for, in 

. 1836 and 1S40, 39, 40 ; supposed views 
of, 45 ; pledge of, on slaveiy in District 
of Columbia, 46. 

Heaton, Jacob, letter to, 497. 

Heckscher, C. A., letter to, on tax bill, 
384, 

Henderson, Senator, of Missouri, 558. 

Hepburn vs. Griswold, case of, 258, 

Hilliardj Henry W., letter to, on recon- 
struction, 528. 

Hoffman, H. W., letter to, on Maryland 
att'airs, 390. 

Hooker, General, letters to, 467, 468, 471. 

Hooperj Samuel, introduces national bank- 
ing bill into Congress, 292. 

Hoyt, William S., 3. 

Hunt, Kandall, letter to, on the State of 
the Union, 199. 

Impeachment of President Johnson, 548. 
Inaugm-al address, Mr. Chase's second, 

189. 
Inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, 207. 
Income tax, 3 per cent., July s-ession, 1861, 

222. 
Independent Democrats, their action in 

Ohio in 1848, 90 ; National Convention 

in 1852, 131 ; appeal to the people 



666 



INDEX. 



asa'mst repeal of Missouii Compromise, 
1 Jl ; Mr. Chase vindicates the state- 
ments cantaLned in the appeal, 151. 

Interest on public debt payable in coin, 
opposition to, 248. 

Internal revenue, 314 ; income from 1862, 
't)3, and '64, 316. 

Inter-State commerce, its difficulties and 
importance, 317, et seq. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Mr. Chase's tribute to, 
110. 

Johnson. Andrew, letter to, 393 ; sworn 
iu as President, 519 ; letter to, 521 ; the 
effort at impeachment of, 548 ; impeach- 
ment of, 549 ; acquittal of, 559. 

Kane, General Thos. L., letter to, 471. 

Kansas, proposed new Territory of, 138 ; 
passage ot Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 155 ; 
mimediate consequences of the passage 
of the act, 160; struggle for possession 
of Kansas, 162. 

Kent, Chancellor, commends Chase's 
" Statutes of Ohio," 35. 

Kentucky, Mr. Chase's part in measures 
to prevent secession o^ 419. 

Key, Colonel Thos. M., letter to on mili- 
tary matters, 434. 

King, Leicester, nominated for Governor 
of Ohio, 50 ; vote for, in 1842, 68. 

Kirk, E. C., letter to, " the war," 456. 

Know-Nothings, a means of stemming the 
anti-Nebraska sentiment, 161 ; their pro- 
fessed objects, 161. 

Lauretta Hitchcock, letters to, 24, 31. 

Leavitt, Joshua^ letter to, expresses pref- 
erence for a judicial position, 393 ; let- 
ter to, on Monroe doctrine, 398 ; letter 
to, on taxes, 400. 

Legal-tender paper-money, Mr. Chase's 
hostility to, 242; letters to Mr. Trow- 
bridgCj to Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, and to 
Committee of "Ways and Means, 243-245 ; 
$150,000,000 authorized, 249 ; further is- 
sues, 250 ; summary of issues, 252, 253 ; 
justified by war experience, 253, et seq. ; 
case of Hepburn m. Griswold, 258. 

Letcislature, composition of, in Ohio, 1848, 
9t). 

Liberty party, organization of, in Ohio, 
47 ; first convention of, 47 ; address of, 
written by Mr. Chase, 47 ; proposes a Na- 
tional Convention for national work, 50 ; 
National Convention of, at Buffalo, in 
1843, 69; John Pierpont's resolution of 
" mental reservation," 70 ; Southern and 
Western Convention of 1845, 70; ad- 
dress of, 71 ; National Convention, at 
Bufl'^lo, 1847, 81 ; Mr. Chase's call for 
State Convention in Ohio, 81. 

Lincoln, President, election of, 198 ; in- 
vites Mr. Chase to conference at Spring- 
field, 201 ; interviews between, and i-lr. 
Chase, 201 ; appoints Mr. Chase Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, 207 ; Mr. Chase's 
letters to, on financial affairs, 388, 402, 



465; Mr. Chase's letters to, on pro- 
visioning of Fort Sumter, 423 ; — in re- 
spect to Maryland disunionists, 424 ; 
— on admission of West Vkginia, 459 ; 
on emancipation, 461 ; — on reconstrac- 
tion, 514 ; nis remarks on emancii^ation, 
453 ; accepts Mr. Chase's resignation, 
486 ; his judgment of Mr. Chase, 488 ; 
appoints Mr. Chase to be Chief-Justice, 
488, 513 ; letter of thanks from Mr. 
Chase to, 513. 

Livei-pool, T. N. C, letter to, on suffrage 
ana amnesty, 531. 

Lloyd, Demarest, extract from article of, 
33 ; letters to, Cincinnati Convention, 
593 ; extracts from his article, " Home- 
Life of Salmon Portland Chase," 620, 
627. 

Loan, national, authorized, 218 ; $100,000,- 
000 authorized in Europe, 221 ; agents, 
229 ; summary of acts authorizing, 338, 
et seq. ; Mr. Chase's operations imder, 
342, 

Loans of 1861, 227; objections to long 
loans, 408. 

Long, Colonel Alexander, letters to, on 
New York Convention, 578, 589. 

Ludlow, Major B. C, letter to, 466. 

Lyons, James, letter to, on universal suf- 
frage and amnesty, 586. 

Maiming, Captain H. B., letter to, on dec- 
orating Conlederate graves, 529. 

Mansfield, E. D., letter to, on military 
affairs in Virginia, 439. 

Martial law, Mr. Chase's refusal to hold 
court in rebel States vmtil abrogation of, 
535. 

Mason, James M., of Virginia, his fugitive 
slave bill, 123 ; denomiced by Demo- 
crats as a "bill of abominations," 124; 
Mr. Chase's opposition to it, 124; evil 
effects of, 128. 

Matilda, the case of the slave, 41. 

Matthews, Stanley, letter to, 618. 

McClellan, General George B., called to 
Washington, 224 ; cordfal letter to, 427 ; 
letter to, " the anny and the Treasury 
must stand or fall together," 433 ; Mr. 
Chase ui'ges removal of, from command 
of the armyj 440, 443 ; " Notes on Union 
of the Armies of the Potomac and the 
Army of Virginia," 445. 

McDowell, General, 365 ; letter to, on 
military matters, 435; Mr. Chase's let- 
ter to Mr. Bryant, 450. 

McMurdy, Eev. Dr., letter to Mr. Schuck- 
ers, 628. 

McKira, J. M., letter to, 525. 

Medill, Joseph, letter to, on " gold notes," 
278 ; banks, 383. 

Mellen, William P., letter to, on inter- 
State commerce, 319 ; " political meta- 
physics," 364 ; national banks, 386, 520. 

Mercier, M., minister of France, letter to, 
on French decimal system, 395. 

Military, certain matters, in charge of, by 
Mr. Chase, 418 ; partial reorganization 
of U. S. Army, 419. 



INDEX. 



667 



Militia system of Ohio, rco^'ganized ty Mr. 
Chase, 183 ; progress of reorganization, 
185 ; publication of regulations, 186 ; use- 
fulness and efficacy of the organization 
in 1861, 186. 

Miller, Charles K., letter to, 100. 

Missouri, Mr. Chase's active interest for 
safety of, 419. 

Missouii Compromise, proposed repeal of, 
139 ; appeal of Independent Democrats 
against, 140 ; history of Missouri Com- 
promise, 142 ; repeal of, 155. 

Mitchell, General 0. M., letter to, con- 
cerning colored troops, 455. 

Morgan, E. D.^ the Assistant Treasurer's 
office, New 1 ork, 484. 

Morrill, J. S., against legal tender, 246; 
Mon-ill taritf, 312. 

Morse. Colonel John F., member of Ohio 
Legislature in 1848, 91 ; the "ISIorse 
and Townsheud coalition," 93 ; vindica- 
tion, by the people of Ohio, of the action 
of that coalition, 94 ; letter to, 95 ; bill 
for repeal of Ohio black laws, 97 ; letter 
to, 396, note. 

Nash, Suueon, letter to, on Fremont's 
proclamation, 277. 

National Banking Associations, proposed 
by Mr. Chase, 240 ; featm-es of the sys- 
tem, 296, et seq. ; condition of, 1865 and 
1873, 309, SIO. {See Banks ; see also p. 
406.) 

National Convention of Whigs and Demo- 
crats in 1848, 83 ; their action on the 
slavery question, 83, 84 ; witlidrawal of 
New I'ork "Barnburners" from Demo- 
cratic Convention, 83. 

National Conventions, Whig and Demo- 
cratic, in 1852, 129, 130. 

National Convention, Democratic, in 1868, 
563. 

National loan, Mr. Chase proposes one, 
_218, 225. 

Nebraska, the original bill, 126 ; history 
of the Territory of, 142 ; passage of Kan- 
sas-Nebraska Bill, 155. 

Negroes, Mr. Chase iu favor of arming 
freed, 420. 

Nelson, General, letter to, on war matters, 
429 ; letter to, on miscarriage of anus, 
431. 

Non-intervention with slavery in the Ter- 
ritories, Jetl'erson Davis's resolution on, 
and Mr. Chase's speech in opposition, 
119, et sea. 

Norfolk, takmg of, 366, et seq. 

Notes on " the Union of the Armies of the 
Potomac and the Army of Vh-ginia," 
445. 

Noves, William Curtis, letter to, on 
'^reedmen's commission," 465. 

Ohio, admission of, into the Union, 61 ; 
Free-Soil State Convention of 1848, 84 ; 
chooses delegates to National Conven- 
tion at Buffiilo, 84 ; attitude of Demo- 
crats of, on slavery, in 1843, 89; election 



ua that State in 1848, 90 ; and the Union, 
116 ; Mr. Chase nominated for Governor 
of, 165. 

Opdyke, Geo., letter to, on the war, 387. 

Ordiiiance of 1787, history of, 58. 

Orton, William, letter to, 495. 

Owen, Kobert Dale, his letter oh emanci- 
pation, 379. 

Pacific Eailroad, Mr. Chase's action on, 
158. 

Palmer, Albert M., arrest of, 478; extract 
from testimony, 502. 

Paper-money a necessity, 238 ; Mr. Chase's 
views on, 239. 

Parsons, Colonel E. C, letter to, on Val- 
landigham's arrest, 391 ; letter to, about 
General McDowell, 451 ; letter to, 623. 

Patronage of Treasury Department, 481 ; 
Mr. Seward's method of disposing of it, 
482. 

Paul, John, letter to, 156. 

Peace Conference, 203 ; Mr. Chase's prop- 
osition and speech in that body, 204, et 
seq. 

Peace and pardon. President Jolmson's 
proclamations of, 536. 

Perry, A. F., letter to, 504. 

Philanthroptst, antislavery newspaper, 39. 

Pierce, President, extract from his first 
message, 134, 

Pierpont, John, resolutions of, in Buflalo 
Convention, 1843, 70. 

Pig, how Mr. Chase shaved one, 14. 

Pitcher, presentation to Mr. Chase, by 
colored people, 78. 

Platform, Mr. Chase's authorized, in 1868, 
567. 

Plumley, A. E., teacher, 23; gives up a 
school to Mr. Chase, 24. 

"Pomeroy Circular," 476, 499. 

Pope. Generalj letter to, about exacting 
oatn of allegiance, 378, 

Potter, M. D., letter to, 276. 

Prentice, Geo. D., letter to, concerning 
suppUes to rebels, 425. 

Presidency, proposed for, m 1856, 195 ; in 
1860, 197 ; mdorsed by Kepublican 
State Convention of Oldo, 197 ; un- 
friendly action in some of the Congress 
districts, 198 ; his support in the Chi- 
cago Convention, 198; the Democratic 
movement in 1868, 560. 

Presidential vote in 1852, 132. 

Press, Mr. Chase on the liberty of the, 41, 

Prices, enhancement of, 301 {see also 411). 

Protest of New England clergymen against 
the Nebraska Bill, 155. 

PubKc debt, 1861, statement of, 235 ; state- 
ment of, 1864, 355, 

Eailway celebration of 1857, 180. 
Eebellion, troops necessary to put it down, 

220. 
Eeconstruction, Mr. Chase's letters to Mr. 

Lincoln, 514, et seq. 
Eeid, J. M., letter to, 514. 
Eeid, Whitelaw, 520 ; extract from letter 

to, 619. 



668 



INDEX. 



EepuWlcan party, organization of, in Ohio, 
165, note. 

Resignation by Mr. Chase of the Treasury, 
486 ; letters, etc., relating to his resig- 
nation and Mr. Seward's, m 1862, 489. 

Resumption of specie payments, Mr. Chase 
on, 410. 

Revenue, internal, 233. 

" Eide and tie," 12. 

Roberts, John, letter to, 274. 

Eosecrans, General, letter to, 458. 

Rousseau, General LoveU H., letter to, 
457. 

Schuckers, J. "W., letters to, 511, note ; 
letters to, in relation to trial of Jefferson 
Davis, 536, 540 ; letter to John S. Cor- 
bin, 574 ; letters to, in relation to New 
York Convention, 589, 590. 

Seddon, Mrs. L. B., letter to, 525. 

Senate, Mr. Chase's election to, 94; re- 
election to, 194. 

" Seven-thirties," first issues of, 227 ; out- 
standing, Jime 30, 1864, 342. 

Seward, William H., counsel in Van Zandt 
case, 65; letter of, to Mr. Chase, 72; 
what Mr. Lincoln said about him at 
Spiin.gfield, 202 ; letter of Mr. Chase to, 
202, note ; letter to, 392 ; resigns, 473 ; 
letter to, 505. 

Seymour, ex-Governor Horatio, letter from, 
m relation to Democratic movement for 
Mr. Chase, in 1868, 570. 

Sherman, General, letter to, on war mat- 
ters, 429. 

Shei-man, John, letter to, on the war, 379 ; 
letter to, 520. 

Sickles, General, " Order No. 10," 543 ; 
abrogated by Executive, 543 ; Mr. Chase 
on, 543. 

Skumer, Major Ralston, letter to, 465. 

Slave, Mr. phase's definition of, 62. 

Slaveiy, petition for abolition of, in Dis- 
trict of Columbia, 27 ; Mr. Chase's early 
views on, 48 ; its usurpations, 49 ; slavery 
question ia Congress in 1850, 105. 

Slave-himtiug, the era of, 128. 

Slave-trade in District of Columbia, Mr. 
Chase's views on, 113. 

Smith, Gerrit, letter to, 399 ; letters to, on 
impeachment and the presidency, 576, 
577. 

Smith, Richard, letter to, on Government 
expenditures, 403. 

Snodgrass, Dr. J. E., letter to, on the 
presidency, 575. 

Snydei\ Miss Mary A., letter to, 404. 

Soul4, Pien-e, letter to, at Fort Lafayette, 
376. 

Southern and Western Liberty Conven- 
tion of 1845, 70. 

South, Mr. Chase's visit to States of the, 
519. 

South Carolina, secession of, 199. 

Specie payments, suspension of, 231 ; Mr. 
Chase on resumption, 409. 

Spencer, E. A., letter to, on the presi- 
dency, 495. 

Sprague, Mrs., letter to, 524. 



Sprague, William, letter to, 494. 

Stanton, Edwin M., appointed Secretary 
of War, 237 ; letter to, ^^l£x, letter to, 
509; the chief-justiceship, 512; im- 
peachment business, 548. 

State banks, inadequacy and dangers of 
their circulationj 284. 

Stebbins, Mrs. Alice S., letter to, 623. 

Stevens, Thaddeus, on legal tender, 246 ; 
letter to, in favor of tax on State bank 
notes, 401. 

Stewart, John A., letter to, 505. 

Stickney, L. D., letter to, 503. 

Stocks, U. S., $25,000,000 authomed, 210 
(see also 212, 213). 

Story, Associate-Justice J., on " Chase's 
Statutes," 36. 

Suffrage, Mr. Chase's \'iews on, in 1845, 
79. 

Summary of Mr. Chase's financial meas- 
ures and objects, 406. ' 

Sumner, Charles, his advent into the 
Senate, 126; on legal tender, 247; the 
chief-justiceship, 512 ; letter to, from 
the South, 523. 

Supreme Court on legal tender, 258 ; re- 
construction of, 265. 

Suspension of specie payments, 231. 

Sutliffe, Milton, letter to, 275. 

Tappan, Lewis, letter to, 65. 

Tariff, increased duties proposed on mo- 
lasses, etc., 217; the "Morrill," 312; 
legislation during Mr. Chase's admin- 
istration, 313 ; income from, 314. 

Taxation, Mr. Chase's views on, 330 {see 
also note, same page). 

Taxes, direct, $20,000,000 proposed, 217 ; 
amount raised, from all sources, dm-iug 
Mr. Chase's administration, 336. 

Ten-forties, 349, 350. 

Tennessee, Mr. Chase in charge of mili- 
tary matters in, 419. 

Texas, annexation of, 81 ; bomidary ques- 
tion, 122. 

Thomas, Colonel Wm. B., letter to, 574. 

Tilton, Theodore, letter to, "A folded 
banner," 579. 

Tod, Governor David, of Ohio, letter to, 
471. 

Townsend's National Hecord, extracts 
from, 225. 

Townshend, Dr. Norton S., 91. 

Treasury, Mr. Chase nominated to be 
Secretary of the, 207; daily expendi- 
tures of, 224, 238 ; daily average income 
of, during Mr. Chase's administration, 
355, note ; siunmary of transactions of, 
352. 

Trent" affair, 236. 

Trowbridge, Mr. John T., "FeiTy-Boy 
and Financier," 11 ; letters, 4, 5, 7, 11, 
13, 16, 18, 19, 29, 41, 50, 130, 418. 

Troy, J. T., letter to, on amnesty and suf- 
fi-age, 531. 

United States notes, ilr. Chase's aversion 
to, 239, 242. 



INDEX. 



669 



Universal suflPrago, necessity of, to the 
Republican party, 546. 

Van Buren, Colonel John D., letters to, on 
finance, 412 ; on New York Convention 
matters, 589, 590. 

Van Zandt, John, the case of, 53; Mr. 
Chase's argument, 56 ; end of, 65. 

Vermont resolutions on slavery, 108, note. 

War, troops necessary for the, 220 ; vast 
expenditures for, 23S ; letter to Secretary 
of, 426. 

Warden, R. B., letters to, 279, 394. 

Wasftington Union, against repeal of 
Missouri Compromise, 137; for repeal, 
139. 

Watson, Samuel, case of,^ 74. 

Webster, Daniel, on the slavery question 
in 1850, 105. 

Weiss, John, letter to, 392. 

Welles, Hon. Gideon, extract from " Lin- 
coln and Seward," 482. 

Whig party, dissolution of, 161. 



Whipple, Miss Eliza Chase, letter to Mr. 
Schuckers, 629. 

Whipple, George, letter to, 525. 

Williams, John E., letter to, on " deco- 
rating Confederate graves," 530. 

Wilson, Henry, letter to, 434. 

Wirt, Catharine and Elizabeth, "The 
Sisters," 25. 

Wirt, William, Mr. Chase enters his office, 
26 ; letter to, 28 {see also 38, and note). 

Wirt, Dr. William, letter to, 421. 

Wise, Henry A., Governor, threatens to 
invade Ohio, 191 ; Governor Chase's re- 
ply, 192. 

Wood, Bradford R., letter to, 365. 

Wooster, how the town looked at night, 
12. 

Worthington, school at, 13. 

Yoimg, John, letter to, on military man- 
agement, 458. 

Zinn, Peter, letter to, 363. 



THE END. 



/ 



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